Psychometric Properties of the Electronic Games Addiction Scale for Adolescent Students

Abstract

The study aimed to develop a scale with specific dimensions to measure electronic gaming addiction for adolescent students in the Arab context, with a particular focus on its suitability for the Saudi environment. The goal was to provide a standardized tool that researchers in the fields of psychometrics and behavioral sciences could utilize. A psychometric descriptive methodology was employed, and the sample consisted of (181) voluntarily participating male and female students from public schools in Saudi Arabia. Their ages ranged from (12 to 18) years, with a mean age of (16.14) years and a standard deviation of (1.4). The study assessed the scale’s validity and reliability. The final version of the scale comprised (29) items distributed across five theoretically defined dimensions: (1) Social and Personal Relationships, (2) Academic and Educational Commitments, (3) Emotional and Affective Dimension, (4) Behavioral and Addictive Patterns, and (5) Cognitive Dimension and Impact on Thinking. The results demonstrated high validity indicators, including internal consistency validity and confirmatory factor validity, reflecting the appropriateness of the scale's theoretical structure. Reliability analysis also showed satisfactory outcomes using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, Guttman split-half reliability coefficient, and Composite Reliability (CR), confirming that the Electronic Gaming Addiction Scale for adolescent students possesses an acceptable degree of validity and reliability.