Validity, Reliability, and Measurement Invariance of the Thai Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale

Abstract

Background: In recent years, there has been increased research interest in both smartphone addiction and social media addiction as well as the development of psychometric instruments to assess these constructs. However, there is a lack of psychometric evaluation for instruments assessing smartphone addiction and social media addiction in Thailand. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties and gender measurement invariance of the Thai version of the Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS) and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS). Method: A total of 801 Thai university students participated in an online survey from January 2022 to July 2022 which included demographic information, SABAS, BSMAS, and the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS9-SF). Results: Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs) found that both the SABAS and BSMAS had a one-factor structure. Findings demonstrated adequate psychometric properties of both instruments and also supported measurement invariance across genders. Moreover, scores on the SABAS and BSMAS were correlated with scores on the IGDS9-SF. Conclusion: The results indicated that the SABAS and BSMAS are useful psychometric instruments for assessing the risk of smartphone addiction and social media addiction among Thai young adults.