Psychometric Properties of Smartphone Addiction Questionnaire (SPAQ) among Sultan Qaboos University Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the psychometric properties of a smartphone addiction questionnaire. It explored the structure of the questionnaire: smartphone usage, the level of addiction to smartphones' different activities and applications, and the level of smartphones' addiction symptoms appearance. The dimensional structure of the questionnaire was investigated with a sample of 140 SQU undergraduates (37.1% males and 62.9% females). Based on the factor analysis results, the questionnaire consisted of five factors: disregard of harmful consequences, preoccupation, inability to control craving, productivity loss and feeling anxious and lost. The internal consistency and concurrent validity of SPAQ were verified (Cronbach's alpha= 0.76). SPAQ and its factors were significantly correlated with smartphone addiction scale (SAS). The reliability of SPAQ has been tested using test-re-test method and revealed a significant correlation of 0.67 between the two applications.