Psychometric Properties of the Internet Addiction Test in Chinese Adolescents

Objective This study examined the psychometric properties of the Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) in 844 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents (37.7% boys) with mean age of 15.9 (standard deviation = 3.5) years. Methods Demographic items, Internet use habits, IAT, and the Revised Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R) were administered. 3 percent of the participants were classified as addicted and 31.6% as occasional problematic Internet users. Confirmatory factor analysis results indicated that the 18-item second-order three-factor model has the best fit with our data (Satorra-Bentler scaled chi(2) = 160.56, df = 132, p < .05, normed fit index = 0.95, non-normed fit index = 0.99, comparative fit index = 0.99, root mean square error of approximation = 0.02). Results IAT demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .93). Satisfactory concurrent and convergent validity of IAT were found moderately correlated with CIAS-R (r = .46) and the average online time per day (r = .40 for weekdays; r = .37 for weekends). Conclusion IAT has evidence of being a valid and reliable scale for screening Internet addiction in Chinese adolescents.