Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Korean Scale for Internet Addiction (K-Scale) in Japanese high school students.
The Korean Scale for Internet Addiction (K-Scale) was developed in Korea for assessing addictive internet behaviors. This study aims to adopt K-Scale and examine its psychometric properties in Japanese adolescents. In 2014, 589 (36.0% boys) high school students (Grade 10-12) from Japan completed a survey, including items of Japanese versions of K-Scale and Smartphone Scale for Smartphone Addiction (S-Scale). Model fit indices of the original four-factor structure, three-factor structure obtained from exploratory factor analysis, and improved two-factor structure of K-Scale were computed using confirmatory factor analysis, with internal reliability of included items reported. The convergent validity of K-Scale was tested against self-rated internet addiction, and S-Scale using multiple regression models. The results showed that a second-order two-factor 13-item structure was the most parsimonious model (NFI=0.919, NNFI=0.935, CFI=0.949, and RMSEA=0.05) with good internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.87). The two factors revealed were "Disturbance of Adaptation and Life Orientation" and "Withdrawal and Tolerance". Moreover, the correlation between internet user classifications defined by K-Scale and self-rating was significant. K-Scale total score was significantly and positively associated with S-Scale total (adjusted R2=0.440) and subscale scores (adjusted R2=0.439). In conclusion, K-Scale is a valid and reliable assessment scale of internet addiction for Japanese high school students after modifications.
School of Health and Medical Sciences, Seton Hall University, United States of America.
Kwok-Kei
KK
Mak
Department of Education, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea.
JeeEun Karin
JK
Nam
Department of Education, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea.
Dongil
D
Kim
National Information Society Agency, Republic of Korea.
Narae
N
Aum
Department of Psychiatry, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Republic of Korea.
Jung-Seok
JS
Choi
Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Cecilia
C
Cheng
Department of Psychology, Asia University, Taiwan.
Huei-Chen
HC
Ko
Department of Children and Women's Health, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. Electronic address: watanabe@sahs.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.
Hiroko
H
Watanabe
D000293:Adolescent; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D056910:Republic of Korea; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*
Adolescents; Internet Addiction; Smartphone Addiction