Problematic Internet Use among adolescents: Spanish validation of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS)

Abstract

Problematic use of the Internet among adolescents has risen in the last decade. The Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) is one of the most frequently internationally-used tools developed to assess Problematic Internet Use (PIU). However, evidence concerning its validity and reliability in its Spanish version for the adolescent population is currently lacking. Thus, the main goal of the present study was to analyse the psychometric properties of CIUS scores in a large sample of Spanish adolescents. The sample consisted of 1,790 participants (53.7% female, mean age = 15.70 years old, SD = 1.26). The one-dimensional model displayed appropriate goodness of fit indices after error covariance of five items were allowed to correlate. Strong measurement invariance was found for the one-dimensional model across age and gender. The McDonald’s Omega coefficient for the total score was 0.91. Furthermore, PIU was positively associated with different indicators of poor wellbeing and psychological difficulties and negatively associated with prosocial behaviour, self-esteem and sense of belonging to the educational centre. The study provided evidence of validity for the CIUS, confirming its utility for screening PIU in non-clinical adolescents.