Distinguishing Different Types of Mobile Phone Addiction: Development and Validation of the Mobile Phone Addiction Type Scale (MPATS) in Adolescents and Young Adults

Qing-Qi Liu, Xiao-Pan Xu, Xiu-Juan Yang, Jie Xiong and Yu-Ting Hu
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Qing-Qi Liu: College of Education for the Future, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai 519087, China
Xiao-Pan Xu: Institute for Public Policy and Social Management Innovation, College of Political Science and Public Administration, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China
Xiu-Juan Yang: School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
Jie Xiong: Center for Mental Health, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China
Yu-Ting Hu: School of Business, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: Researchers have developed various versions of scales to measure mobile phone addiction. Existing scales, however, focus primarily on the overall level of mobile phone addiction but do not distinguish the potential differences between different types of mobile phone addiction. There is a lack of established scales that can measure different types of mobile phone addiction. The present study aimed to uncover the specific types of mobile phone addiction and develop a Mobile Phone Addiction Type Scale (MPATS) for adolescents and young adults. Adolescents and young adults from two high schools and two universities in Central and South China participated in our study. A total of 108 mobile phone addicts (M age = 17.60 years, SD = 3.568 years; 60.185% males) were interviewed to uncover the specific types of mobile phone addiction. Data from 876 adolescents and young adults (M age = 16.750 years, SD = 3.159 years; 49.087% males) were tested for item discrimination and exploratory factor analysis. Data from 854 adolescents and young adults (M age = 16.750 years, SD = 3.098 years; 50.820% males) were analyzed for construct validity, convergent validity, criterion-related validity, and internal consistency reliability. The 26-item Mobile Phone Addiction Type Scale (MPATS) was developed with four factors named mobile social networking addiction, mobile game addiction, mobile information acquisition addiction, and mobile short-form video addiction. The four-factor, 26-item MPATS revealed good construct validity, convergent validity, criterion-related validity, and internal consistency reliability. The new scale is suitable for measuring different types of mobile phone addiction in adolescents and young adults. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Keywords: mobile phone addiction type; validity; reliability; adolescents; young adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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