Validation Study of the Indonesian Internet Addiction Test among Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Internet addiction is a serious problem that can negatively impact both the physical and mental health of individuals. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) is the most common and worldwide used instrument to screen internet addiction. This study sought to investigate the psychometric properties of an Indonesian version of the IAT.Methods: A total of 643 high school students participated in the study. The IAT questionnaire was made the focus of forward translation, expert panel discussions, back translation, a face validity study, a pilot study, and a psychometric properties evaluation. Factor structure was analysed by exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor (CFA) analyses, whereas reliability was measured with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.Results: The factor analysis revealed that a three-factor model of the Indonesian version of the IAT identified in the EFA displays better psychometric properties than a one-factor model of the same. The Cronbach’s alpha score is 0.855. A significant association was also observed between the level of internet addiction with gender (p = 0.027) and the duration of internet use per day (p = 0.001).Conclusion: The Indonesian version of the IAT provides good validity and reliability in a three-dimensional model. Therefore, it can be utilised as a tool for screening internet addiction in the Indonesian population.

Does cyberchondria predict Internet addiction among students during the COVID‐19 pandemic? A web‐based survey study

“…Both cyberchondria and Internet addiction are relatively newly emerging issues 1,3,10–12 . Cyberchondria, the excessive referral to online websites to satisfy medical curiosity, 1,2,4,8,9,13–15 has associations with elevated anxiety about one's health 1–4,15–17 .…”

“…It has bidirectional relationships with many other factors. For instance, cyberchondria is associated with self‐misdiagnosis and exaggerated health anxiety 1–3,10,12,16,17 . and is predicted by many factors such as Internet addiction, anxiety sensitivity, and health anxiety 2,8,9,18–20 …”

Differences in Cyberchondria, Internet Addiction, Anxiety Sensitivity, Health Anxiety, and Coronavirus Anxiety Among Students: A Web-Based Comparative Survey

“…Cyberchondria, defined as individuals' health-related anxiety or distress about their health formed from or intensified by their excessive researches of health-related information online [11], has become prevalent and increased concerns about the individuals' mental and physical health [11][12][13]. Internet addiction (IA), defined as excessive and uncontrolled use of the Internet [14], is a problem that has been linked to cyberchondria and has also become prevalent including among university-level students [2,4,10,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. For instance, the IA prevalence is around 21.2% in Asian countries [20].…”

“…For example, anxiety became a widespread problem during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic [14,18,26,27]. Cyberchondria and IA are relatively emerging issues, but due to the rapid advancement of the Internet, they have become public health issues among different populations, including university-level students [2,4,13,19,20]. Few studies have collectively examined the concepts of cyberchondria, IA, anxiety sensitivity, health anxiety, and coronavirus anxiety [2,4,[10][11][12][18][19][20].…”

“…Cyberchondria and IA are relatively emerging issues, but due to the rapid advancement of the Internet, they have become public health issues among different populations, including university-level students [2,4,13,19,20]. Few studies have collectively examined the concepts of cyberchondria, IA, anxiety sensitivity, health anxiety, and coronavirus anxiety [2,4,[10][11][12][18][19][20]. Previous studies have reported IA, anxiety sensitivity, and health anxiety as risk factors for cyberchondria [23,25,28,29].…”