Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 2004, Vol. 18, No.

4, 381384

Copyright 2004 by the Educational Publishing Foundation 0893-164X/04/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0893-164X.18.4.381

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Development of a Psychometrically Sound Internet Addiction Scale: A Preliminary Step

Laura A. Nichols and Richard Nicki
University of New BrunswickFredericton
The Internet Addiction Scale (IAS) is a self-report instrument based on the 7 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) substance dependence criteria and 2 additional criteria recommended by Griffiths (1998). The IAS was administered to 233 undergraduates along with 4 measures pertaining to loneliness and boredom proneness. An item reliability analysis reduced the initial scale from 36 to 31 items (with a Cronbachs alpha of .95). A principal-components analysis indicated that the IAS consisted mainly of one factor. Multiple regression analyses revealed that Family and Social Loneliness and Boredom Proneness were significantly correlated with the IAS; Family and Social Loneliness uniquely predicted IAS scores. No evidence for widespread Internet addiction was found.

Advances in computer technology (e.g., the Internet) have led researchers to study its impact and whether some individuals are using this technology excessively (Davis, Smith, Rodrigue, & Pulvers, 1999; Griffiths, 1999; Kraut et al., 2002; Kraut et al., 1998; Sanders, Field, Diego, & Kaplan, 2000; Shotton, 1991). Current definitions of addiction include almost any type of compulsive behavior (e.g., Internet gambling, sex, eating, exercise; Eppright, Allwood, Stern, & Theiss, 1999; Griffiths, 1999, 1998; Ladd & Petry, 2002; Marks, 1990). As a result, some researchers (Davis et al., 1999; Eppright et al., 1999; Scherer, 1997; Young, 1996) have argued that excessive Internet use may also be viewed as an addiction. In particular, Griffiths (1998) suggested that excessive Internet use may be considered a technological addiction that is best conceptualized as a subset of behavioral addictions, such as gambling addiction. Technological addictions are considered nonchemical addictions that involve humanmachine interactions that contain reinforcing and motivating features that encourage continued use of the medium (Griffiths, 1999). Despite the fact that there has been a great deal of media attention paid to so-called Internet addiction (Eppright et al., 1999), there is very little scientific evidence to support a claim of

Internet addiction being a widespread phenomenon. The evidence that exists is based on poorly designed assessment measures and biased sampling techniques (e.g., online solicitation of selfidentified excessive Internet users; Eppright et al., 1999; Kraut et al., 1998; Villani, 2001). Furthermore, many studies (e.g., Hansen, 2002; Morahan-Martin & Schumacher, 2000; Sanders et al., 2000) have used weak and inconsistent criteria in their identification of Internet addicts. The purpose of this study was to take the preliminary steps in developing an instrument, the Internet Addiction Scale (IAS), with acceptable levels of reliability and validity so that Internet addiction might be more meaningfully assessed. The criteria used to develop the IAS were based on the seven Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSMIV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) substance dependence criteria and two additional criteria (i.e., salience and mood modification) recommended by Griffiths (1996). The IAS was administered to a large sample of undergraduate students at the University of New BrunswickFredericton, along with measures of loneliness and boredom proneness to provide evidence for its construct validity.

Method Participants
Laura A. Nichols and Richard Nicki, Department of Psychology, University of New BrunswickFredericton, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. We thank Michel Quellette, director of Residential Life and Conference Services, University of New BrunswickFredericton, for partial funding of this project. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Laura A. Nichols, Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 6E4, Canada. E-mail: z77az@unb.ca 381 Two hundred thirty-four students, who were primarily Caucasian, from the University of New BrunswickFredericton in New Brunswick, Canada, volunteered to participate in this study, which was approved by the Department of Psychologys ethics committee. Participants ages ranged from 18 to 24. To increase the homogeneity of the sample, we dropped 17 participants from the analysis (because of extreme heterogeneity with respect to age, marital status, and full- vs. part-time student status). We dropped an additional 10 participants from the sample because of incom-

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plete data. The remaining sample consisted of 207 undergraduate students (120 men and 87 women). Participants were enrolled in a variety of undergraduate programs, with the majority (59%) in arts and science, followed by business (39%) and engineering (20%). Participants were recruited through written advertisements and verbal announcements in introductory psychology classes and in campus residences.

Measures
Demographic questionnaire. We developed a 13-item demographic questionnaire that included items pertaining to age, sex, relationship status, and type and extent of Internet and computer use. IAS. The IAS (Nichols & Nicki, 2000) initially was a self-report instrument consisting of 36 items, based on the seven DSMIV substance dependence criteria and two additional criteria recommended by Griffiths (1998). Each criterion was initially represented by 4 items. In accordance with the procedures of DeVellis (1991) and Spector (1992), an initial pool of items was developed. Further development of the IAS items was assisted through informal interviews with five volunteer student Internet users on the university campus. In addition, some of the items were adapted from existing Internet measures. Next, a small focus group composed of six volunteer graduate students in psychology completed the IAS and provided feedback, which was used to modify IAS items (e.g., changes in wording of instructions, wording of items). Scale items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 never, 2 rarely, 3 sometimes, 4 frequently, 5 always), with higher scores representing greater Internet addiction. Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale (SELSA; DiTommaso & Spinner, 1993). The SELSA is a 15-item scale consisting of three subscales: (a) Social, (b) Emotional, and (c) Family Loneliness. All items are followed by a 5-point Likert scale on which respondents indicate the degree to which each item applies. The SELSA has excellent internal consistency reliability (i.e., Cronbachs alpha values ranging from .89 to .93; in this study, a Cronbachs alpha of .85 was found for the SELSA). Support for the SELSAs validity has also been demonstrated by its relationship to the UCLA Loneliness Scale (r .79, DiTommaso & Spinner, 1993). Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS; Farmer & Sundberg, 1986). The BPS is a well-researched scale that assesses an individuals propensity toward boredom. The scale consists of 28 truefalse items such as Time always seems to pass slowly. In this study, the internal consistency reliability was .78 and compared favorably with previous estimates of internal consistency reliability (.79) reported by Farmer and Sundberg (1986). The BPS also has good testretest reliability (r .83; Farmer & Sundberg, 1986). Support for the scales construct validity was demonstrated by the report of substantial correlations of boredom proneness with other measures believed to be related to boredom (e.g., depression and hopelessness; Farmer & Sundberg, 1986).

computer 1 to 5 hr per week, 27% indicated that they used a computer 6 to 10 hr per week, 11% indicated that they used a computer 11 to 15 hr per week, and 13% indicated that they used a computer 16 or more hr per week. When asked about the number of hours they used the Internet, 72% indicated that they used the Internet 1 to 5 hr per week, 15% indicated that they used it 6 to 10 hr per week, 4% indicated that they used it 11 to 15 hrs per week, and 7% indicated that they used it 16 or more hr per week. Participants reported that they used the Internet for a variety of reasons: academic (78%), e-mail (91%), games (30%), chat rooms (33.8%), music (40.6%), and cybersex and cyberpornography (22.2%). No significant correlations were found between Internet addiction and these activities. However, the relationship between Internet addiction and number of hours spent on the Internet approached significance (r .13, p .06).

Examination of Means and Variances of the IAS

Inspection of the IAS mean scores revealed that the IAS distribution was severely negatively skewed, with approximately 94% of participants having scores 2.5 or less, 4.8% of participants having scores between 2.5 and 3.0, and fewer than 1% of participants having scores greater than 3.0 (sometimes). We used a log transformation (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001, p. 81), which pulls in disparate values toward the center of the distribution, to correct this substantial skewness and to satisfy the assumption of normality. For the IAS, the mean total score for the sample was 55.79, and the standard deviation was 17.93. Corresponding values for logtransformed scores were 1.70 and 0.13, respectively.

IAS Interitem Correlations and Internal Consistency

We deleted from the IAS 2 items that had means distant from the center of the range and low variances. We eliminated an additional 3 items from the scale because the magnitude of their correlations was quite low (although still significant). This resulted in a revised version of the IAS that consisted of 31 items (Cronbachs .95). The nine criteria of Internet addiction remained fairly equally represented across the remaining 31 items. The IAS should be scored by adding Likert responses across the 31 items. We suggest a cutoff score of 93 (3 31 items) as indicative of possible Internet addiction.

Procedure
Participants were informed that the purpose of this study was to examine factors related to computer use attitudes. Questionnaire packets1 were completed by participants in sessions (varying in size) held in classrooms and residence meeting rooms. As an incentive for taking part in the study, introductory psychology participants received course credit points; residence participants were given the chance to have their name entered in a lottery for several small cash prizes.

Principal-Components Analyses
We conducted principal-components analyses on the logtransformed scores of the IAS (see above). On the basis of the scree test (Cattell, 1978) and the percentage of variance accounted for by each factor, we judged a one-factor solution to be most appropriate. This component accounted for a total of 46.50% of the variance. A value for loadings of .30 (Floyd & Widaman, 1995) was used as a cutoff for items that did not relate to a component. All 31 items loaded on this component, which was interpreted to represent aspects of a general factor relating to Internet addiction reflecting the negative consequences of excessive Internet use.
1 The College Adjustment Scale (Anton & Reed, 1991) and the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (Adams, 1998) were also administered. These data are not presented here.

Results Computer and Internet Use

One hundred percent of participants indicated that they had used a computer and the Internet. When asked about the number of hours they used the computer, 47% indicated that they used a

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Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics (i.e., means and standard deviations) for the four predictor variables were 9.76 and 4.97 for Boredom Proneness; 3.35 and 1.85 for Romantic Loneliness; 2.10 and 1.18 for Family Loneliness; and 2.22 and 1.10 for Social Loneliness, respectively. The mean and standard deviation for the IAS were 55.79 and 17.93, respectively.

Plans for future research include using the IAS to assess the prevalence and risk of Internet addiction with frequent computer users. To facilitate researchers understanding of Internet behavior and addiction, further work (e.g., inclusion of temporal dimensions among the items and possible reduction of number of items) is needed to improve the IAS and to establish its psychometric properties.

References Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses

We used hierarchical multiple regression analysis to assess the main effects of gender and each of the predictor variables and their interactions on the IAS (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001, p. 131) at each point of entry into the equation. Gender was entered on Step 1; Boredom Proneness and Family, Social, and Romantic Loneliness were entered as a block on Step 2; and the interaction terms were entered as a block on Step 3. The criterion variable was the total Internet addiction score (transformed). The linear combination of gender; Boredom Proneness; and Family, Romantic, and Social Loneliness was found to be significantly related to the Internet addiction scores, F(4, 201) 7.28, p .01. The multiple regression correlation coefficient (R .39) indicated that the linear combination of the predictor variables accounted for approximately 15% of the variance in Internet addiction scores in the sample. At the zero-order correlation level, gender, Boredom Proneness, Family Loneliness, and Social Loneliness were found to be significantly ( p .01) related to IAS log-transformed scores (rs .17, .14, .30, and .31, respectively). Furthermore, gender, Family Loneliness, and Social Loneliness were found to significantly ( p .01) and uniquely account for IAS log-transformed scores (srs .16, .15, and .20, respectively).
Adams, G. R. (1998). Manual for the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status. Unpublished instrument, University of Guelph, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Anton, W. D., & Reed, J. R. (1991). Manual for the College Adjustment Scale. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Brenner, V. (1997). Psychology of computer use XLVII: Parameters of Internet use, abuse and addiction; the first 90 days of the Internet Usage Survey. Psychological Reports, 80, 879 882. Cattell, R. B. (1978). The scientific use of factor analysis in behavioral and life science. New York: Plenum. Davis, S. P., Smith, B. G., Rodrigue, K., & Pulvers, K. (1999). An examination of Internet usage on two college campuses. College Student Journal, 33, 257260. DeVellis, R. F. (1991). Scale development: Theory and applications. London: Sage. DiTommaso, E., & Spinner, B. (1993). The development and initial validation of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA). Personality and Individual Differences, 14, 127134. Eppright, T., Allwood, M., Stern, B., & Theiss, T. (1999). Internet addiction: A new type of addiction? Missouri Medicine, 96, 133136. Farmer R., & Sundberg, N. D. (1986). Boredom pronenessThe development and correlates of a new scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 50, 4 17. Floyd, F. J., & Widaman, K. F. (1995). Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments. Psychological Assessment, 7, 286 299. Griffiths, M. (1996). Behavioral addiction: An issue for everybody? Employee Counseling Today, 8, 19 25. Griffiths, M. (1998). Internet addiction: Does it really exist? Psychology and the Internet. In Jayne Gackenbach (Ed.), Psychology and the Internet (pp. 6175). New York: Academic Press. Griffiths, M. (1999). Internet addiction. The Psychologist, 12, 246 250. Hansen, S. (2002). Excessive Internet usage or Internet addiction? The implications of diagnostic categories for student users. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 18, 232236. Kraut, R., Kiesler, S., Bonka, B., Cumming, J., Helgeson, V., & Crawford, A. (2002). Internet paradox revisited. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 49 74. Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhryay, T., & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist, 53, 10171031. Ladd, G. T., & Petry, N. M. (2002). Disordered gambling among university-based medical and dental patients: A focus on Internet gambling. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16, 76 79. Marks, I. (1990). Behavioral (non-chemical) addictions. British Journal of Addiction, 85, 1389 1394. Morahan-Martin, J., & Schumacher, P. (2000). Incidence and correlates of pathological Internet use among college students. Computers in Human Behavior, 16, 1329. Nichols, L. A., & Nicki, R. M. (2000, June). Does Internet addiction really exist? A need to develop a psychometrically sound assessment scale.

Discussion
The results of the present research indicate that the IAS is a highly reliable and internally consistent measure (Cronbachs .95). The IAS has good content validity (DeVellis, 1991), since DSMIV criteria and Griffithss (1998) criteria of salience and mood modification were used in its construction. Its construct validity was also supported, as Family and Social Loneliness were found to be strongly associated with IAS scores, with each accounting for approximately 9% in IAS variability. Furthermore, both of these loneliness dimensions uniquely predicted scores on the IAS, with Family Loneliness accounting for about 2%, and Social Loneliness about 4%, of IAS variability. Last, the IAS was found to consist of mainly one factor pertaining to the negative consequences of excessive Internet use. The results provide preliminary support for the sound psychometric properties of the IAS. The results of this study indicate that Internet addiction does not appear to be a widespread phenomenon among this sample of university students at the University of New BrunswickFredericton. This finding runs contrary to claims in the literature (Brenner, 1997; Scherer, 1997; Young, 1996) suggesting that Internet addiction is highly prevalent in North American society. Instead, Shaffer, Hall, and Vander Bilts (2000) and Davis et al.s (1999) assertion that such claims overestimate the prevalence of Internet addiction appears to be more consistent with the findings of this study.

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BRIEF REPORTS Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Villani, S. (2001). Impact of media on children and adolescents: A 10-year review of the research. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 392 401. Young, K. S. (1996, August). Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder. Paper presented at the 104th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Sanders, C. E., Field, T. M., Diego, M., & Kaplan, M. (2000). The relationship of Internet use to depression and social isolation among adolescents. Adolescence, 35, 237241. Scherer, K. (1997). College life on-line: Healthy and unhealthy Internet use. Journal of College Student Development, 38, 655 665. Shaffer, H. J., Hall, M. N., & Vander Bilt, J. (2000). Computer addiction: A critical consideration. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 162 168. Shotton, M. A. (1991). The costs and benefits of computer addiction. Behavior & Information Technology, 10, 219 230. Spector, P. E. (1992). Summated rating scale construction: An introduction. London: Sage.

Received May 13, 2003 Revision received November 20, 2003 Accepted November 21, 2003