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Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Internet Addiction Criteria Index (IACI), developed from the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) Addiction criteria to screen individuals for excessive or problematic internet use among Turkish university students.
Methods: A cross-sectional online self-report survey was conducted at Turgut Ozal University in Ankara. The questionnaire included sections about demographic information, the Addiction Profile Index Internet Addiction Form Screening Version (BAPINT-SV), and IACI. The analyses were conducted with 88 participants. A series of factorial structure, convergent validity and internal consistency reliability analyses were conducted.
Results: The adequacy of sample size was verified using the Bartlett’s test of sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measurement of sampling adequacy. Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (Chi-Square=447.368, df=55, p<0.001) for the IACI, and the KMO measure of sampling adequacy was acceptable at 0.882. Two components on the IACI reached the criterion of an Eigenvalue greater than one (5.43 and 1.18) and the variance accounted for by these components was 49.32% and 10.74%, respectively. The unidimensionality of the scale was assessed subsequently with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Estimation of the model produced a good fit (χ2/df=45.179/40=1.13, root mean square error of approximation RMSEA=0.039, goodness of fit index GFI=0.918, adjusted GFI=0.865, parsimony GFI=0.556, normed fit index NFI=0.904, comparative fit index CFI=0.988, incremental fit index IFI=0.988). All item-component loadings were in the “good” to “excellent” range. Thus, results from the PCA and the CFA suggest that the IACI assesses a one-dimensional construct. The Pearson product–moment correlation between the IACI and BAPINT-SV scores was moderate (r=0.62, p<0.001), whereas internal consistency for the IACI (coefficient α=0.892), examined by Cronbach’s alpha, was high.
Conclusion: These preliminary findings support the IACI as a reliable and valid Internet addiction-screening instrument that measures a one-dimensional construct in Turkish university students. Further research is warranted with a higher number of university students, with clinical populations and with high-risk populations such as those in Internet cafes.