Development of Korean Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale for Youth

Abstract

This study developed a Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale (SAPS) based on the existing internet and cellular phone addiction scales. For the development of this scale, 29 items (1.5 times the final number of items) were initially selected as preliminary items, based on the previous studies on internet/phone addiction as well as the clinical experience of involved experts. The preliminary scale was administered to a nationally representative sample of 795 students in elementary, middle, and high schools across South Korea. Then, final 15 items were selected according to the reliability test results. The final scale consisted of four subdomains: (1) disturbance of adaptive functions, (2) virtual life orientation, (3) withdrawal, and (4) tolerance. The final scale indicated a high reliability with Cronbach's α of .880. Support for the scale's criterion validity has been demonstrated by its relationship to the internet addiction scale, KS-II (r = .49). For the analysis of construct validity, we tested the Structural Equation Model. The results showed the four-factor structure to be valid (NFI = .943, TLI = .902, CFI = .902, RMSEA = .034). Smartphone addiction is gaining a greater spotlight as possibly a new form of addiction along with internet addiction. The SAPS appears to be a reliable and valid diagnostic scale for screening adolescents who may be at risk of smartphone addiction. Further implications and limitations are discussed.

Developing a shorter version of the Estonian Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale (E-SAPS18)

“…Even though the sample was balanced by gender in confirmatory factor analysis, ideally a genderbalanced and more representative sample ought to be used in following studies to confirm the effects described in this study. However, as the majority of the results are congruent with the findings of previous research (carried out in other contexts -of which some also had similar problems; e.g., Ching et al, 2015;Kwon, Lee, et al, 2013;Kim, Lee, Lee, Nam, & Chung, 2014), the knowledge extracted from this paper contributes to the general understanding of the construct of smartphone addiction proneness.…”

“…Additionally, the smartphone addiction proneness scales devised in different cultures show similar components and have been replicated both in Asian (Ching et al, 2015;Kim, Lee, Lee, Nam, & Chung, 2014;Lin et al, 2014) and Western (Haug et al, 2015;Lopez-Fernandez, 2015) cultural settings. Furthermore, the literature on smartphone addiction and its relationship with mental health, academic outcomes, and other behavioural and psychological characteristics, such as personality traits, is expanding (e.g., Bian & Leung, 2015;Enez Darcin et al, 2016;Samaha & Hawi, 2016;Yu & Son, 2016).…”

“…Daily-life disturbance is described as smartphone use related discomfort and disturbance in sleep and physical pain (e.g., in wrists or in the neck); Demirci et al (2014) have also called this component Physical symptoms which is more self-explanatory. Some works (Ching et al, 2015;Demirci et al, 2014;Kim et al, 2014;Kwon, Lee, et al, 2013) have used other components, such as cyberspace-oriented relationships, according to which it is preferable to use cyberspace as a channel for communication instead of socializing face-to-face. Also, positive anticipation has been reported in several scales (Ching et al, 2015;Demirci et al, 2014;Kwon, Lee, et al, 2013).…”

The Effect of Smartphone Addiction on Craniovertebral Angle and Depression Status Among University Students

“…If the score was 44 points or more, the subject was placed in the high-risk user group; subjects scoring 40-43 points were placed in the potentially dangerous user group, while those who scored 39 points or less were classified as the regular user group. This scale has shown good reliability and validity for the assessment of smartphone addiction [8,11,12]. In this study, subjects scored > 40 were labelled as heavy user group and subjects scored < 40 was categorized as regular user group.…”

“…Smartphone integrates several technologies which makes an extensive usage of this device as a computer, calculator, camera, video player, web browser, social media and video games other than as a mobile phone [2]. It brings remarkable changes over personal relationships and also in both mental and physical health status [3]. Nowadays, addiction is not only applicable to drug or substance abuse, but it also refers to smartphones which falls under the category of behavioral addiction.…”