TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the internet addiction test (IAT) in a sample of Cypriot high school students
T2 - The Rasch measurement perspective
AU - Panayides, Panayiotis
AU - Walker, Miranda Jane
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - As Greek Cypriot senior high school teachers, the researchers believe that instruments assessing Internet addiction should be developed and validated for use wherever there are adolescents (the most at-risk population) and Internet access. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). A sample of 604 randomly selected high school students from five high schools in Limassol, Cyprus participated in the study. The Rasch Rating Scale Model was used for the analyses of the data collected. Results suggested the modification of the IAT in two ways. First, the 5-point rating scale was replaced by a 3-point scale, which was found to be optimal in the pilot study. Second, item 8 was replaced by a self-rating item because it was found to be identical to item 6 both statistically and semantically. The respondents' reliability was satisfactory (0.86) and item reliability very high (0.99). All 20 items were sufficiently spread out and describe distinct levels along the variable and do define a linear continuum of increasing difficulty. All the evidence collected supports the unidimensionality and the high degree of construct validity of the scale. Finally four recommendations for the modification of the scale and future research are proposed.
AB - As Greek Cypriot senior high school teachers, the researchers believe that instruments assessing Internet addiction should be developed and validated for use wherever there are adolescents (the most at-risk population) and Internet access. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). A sample of 604 randomly selected high school students from five high schools in Limassol, Cyprus participated in the study. The Rasch Rating Scale Model was used for the analyses of the data collected. Results suggested the modification of the IAT in two ways. First, the 5-point rating scale was replaced by a 3-point scale, which was found to be optimal in the pilot study. Second, item 8 was replaced by a self-rating item because it was found to be identical to item 6 both statistically and semantically. The respondents' reliability was satisfactory (0.86) and item reliability very high (0.99). All 20 items were sufficiently spread out and describe distinct levels along the variable and do define a linear continuum of increasing difficulty. All the evidence collected supports the unidimensionality and the high degree of construct validity of the scale. Finally four recommendations for the modification of the scale and future research are proposed.
KW - High school students
KW - Internet addiction
KW - Internet addiction test
KW - Psychometric properties
KW - Rasch measurement
KW - Unidimensionality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865811848&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5964/ejop.v8i3.474
DO - 10.5964/ejop.v8i3.474
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84865811848
SN - 1841-0413
VL - 8
SP - 327
EP - 351
JO - Europe's Journal of Psychology
JF - Europe's Journal of Psychology
IS - 3
ER -