Dados do Trabalho

Título

ADAPTATION AND VALIDATION OF A SCALE FOR PROBLEMATIC SMARTPHONE USE

Introdução

With the increase in smartphone use, many people have been using these devices in problematic ways, particularly among younger people. However, there are few instruments adapted in Brazil that assess problematic smartphone use (PSU).

Objetivo

Adapting and testing the psychometric properties of the Smartphone Addiction Scale - Short Version.

Método

A total of 718 people (college students and adults) participated in the study and completed a questionnaire online from the SurveyMonkey platform. The instrument has ten items ranging in score from 1 (I strongly disagree) to 6 (I strongly agree) and was initially translated from English into Portuguese by two bilingual translators. Five specialists evaluated the semantic equivalence of the instrument.

Resultados

The items were analyzed using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Female and single participants showed a higher frequency of PSU compared to the others. This frequency was also significantly higher among students. The instrument showed good internal consistency α = 0.81. PCA confirmed the single-factor dimension of the instrument as per the original version of the scale.

Conclusão

The data indicated that the scale is reliable and can be used in college students and adults.

Palavras-chave

Problematic internet use, Smartphone Addiction, Colleges, Adults