Internet Abusive Use Questionnaire: Psychometric properties

Abstract

Regardless of the different theoretical positions held at present, we can probably agree that an abusive and problematic use of the Internet exists. We present an instrumental study whose objective is to develop a brief, valid, and reliable questionnaire to measure this abuse in epidemiological contexts. The Internet Abusive Use Questionnaire (IAUQ) consists of 12 items to respond to according to the Likert scale. A total of 908 respondents participated, 48% males, with ages ranging between 17 and 70 years. The IAUQ showed a single factor structure. This model presents a good adjustment, with CFI, GFI, and NFI fit index over.90. Internal consistency was found to be.90. The IAUQ showed direct correlations with the Internet abusive use self-assessment, anxiety and depression, and inverse correlations with quality of life. All correlations were significant (p < .001), which demonstrated convergent validity. Significant differences were also found in the IAUQ scores among groups with different age, cultural level, and other addictions, which evidenced discriminant validity. In conclusion, the obtained results demonstrate structural validity and adequate indices of convergent validity and discriminative capacity. These psychometric characteristics - combined with the fact that the IAUQ evaluates harmful use of Internet briefly and simply - fulfill our goal.