Reliability and construct validity of the Online Cognition Scale in the Portuguese (Brazil) version (OCS-BR)

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate construct validity and reliability of the Portuguese (Brazil) version of Online Cognition Scale (OCS-BR). Methods: Portuguese (Brazil) versions of Online Cognition Scale (OCS), of Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and socio demographic questionnaire was applied to a sample (n = 359) of health university students. Construct validity evidence was verified through the factorial and convergent validity by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and internal consistency and stability analysis through Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) respectively. Discriminative power of items were analyzed using item-total correlation and point biserial correlation. Results: OCS-BR presented satisfactory evidence of construct validity. The instrument showed Cronbach's alpha of 0.91 and ICC of 0.91. Conclusion: Portuguese (Brazil) version of OCS shows items consistently gatherd to measure the Problematic Internet Use (PIU) construct, it is considered s stable instrument in time and with sufficient evidence of construct validity. RESUMOObjetivo: Avaliar a validade de construto e a confiabilidade da versão em português (Brasil) da Online Cognition Scale (OCS-BR). Métodos: As versões em português (Brasil) da Online Cognition Scale (OCS), da Internet Addiction Test (IAT) e um questionário sociodemográfico foram aplicados em uma amostra (n = 359) de estudantes universitários de saúde. A evidên-cia de validade de construto foi verificada por meio da validade fatorial e convergente pela Análise Fatorial Confirmatória e pela análise da consistência internal e estabilidade pelo alpha de Cronbach e coeficiente de correlação intraclasse (ICC), respectivamente. O poder discriminativo de itens foi analisado usando a correlação item-total e a correlação do ponto bisserial. Resultados: A OCS-BR apresentou evidência satisfatória de validade de construto. O instrumento apresentou o alpha de Cronbach de 0,91 e ICC de 0,91. Conclusão: A versão em Português (Brasil) de OCS mostra itens consistentemente reunidos para medir o construto Uso Problemático de Internet, sendo considerado um instrumento estável no tempo e com evidência suficiente de validade de construto. Silva HRS et al.

Comparison of the Prevalence of addiction internet in Brazilian University Students: Online cognition scale versus internet addiction test

“…However, it is important to note that, although the prevalence of AI found by OCS-BR has exceeded the prevalence of IAT-BR, it is believed that this is unrealistic to the detriment of the scarce use of this instrument, thus requiring new studies with the OCS for confirmation of such prevalence, unlike the prevalence of AI estimated through the IAT, which was more extensively studied. Another hypothesis about the validity of the prevalence found by the OCS lies in the psychometric qualities of the instruments, since, while the IAT does not have the psychometric properties (construct validity) studied in the Brazilian population, the OCS-BR was validated [20] in a sample of Brazilian university students. The prevalence of IA by OCS-BR when due to gender was higher in women (65.7%), while in IAT-BR it was more prevalent in men (51.1%).…”

“…The instrument was initially validated in a sample of Canadian university students, presenting Cronbach's alpha satisfactory for the instrument as a whole (α = 0.94) and for each of the dimensions: social comfort (α = 0.87), solitude / depression (α = 0.77), decreased impulse control (α = 0.84) and distraction (α = 0.81) [18]. The OCS was translated into Portuguese by Silva et al [19], who verified in parallel good semantic equivalence and a good degree of comprehensibility by the target population and validated for the Brazilian population by same authors [20].…”

Adaptation of the Indonesian version of the online cognition scale to measure problematic internet use

“…OCS has constructed assumptions derived from the cognitive-behavioral model. That is, OCS focuses on how maladaptive cognition related to internet use (distorted thinking) is the main cause and can also be used as an etiology and therapy for PIU (Silva et al, 2017). This is different from GPIUS 2, which was developed by (Caplan, 2010), which only involves social and emotional aspects.…”

“…This has led to the OCS being adapted into several different languages, and there have been checks on the psychometric qualities (Davis & Besser, 2002;Jia & Jia, 2009). Some adaptations include Turkish ( Özcan & Buzlu, 2005), Polish Błachnio et al (2015), and Brazilian (Silva et al, 2017). In practice, OCS can be used for clinical assessment purposes as a basis for establishing diagnostic and therapeutic goals.…”

Psychometric Properties of the Nine-Item Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire in a Brazilian General Population Sample

“…Research on the problematic internet use in Brazil is on the rise, as it is in many countries. However, one of the existing difficulties is the paucity of instruments available to study this phenomenon, since only the Internet Addiction Test [IAT; (7,8)], and the Online Cognition Scale [OCS; (9)(10)(11)] have been translated and culturally adapted to Brazilian Portuguese. The IAT, despite being the most widely used, had no psychometric properties other than the internal consistency assessed in our population.…”