Abstract
Excessive online gaming has emerged as a highly pervasive public health issue. Currently, there are no instruments available to assess the symptoms of Internet gaming behaviours in Malaysian context. This study aims to validate Bahasa Malaysia version of Internet Gaming Disorder Scale – Short Form (9 items) which was previously developed by Pontes and Griffiths (Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 137–143, 2015). An online survey was conducted among 1175 gamers, consisting of youth aged between 18 and 29 years old. The single-factor scale showed good content validity, concurrent validity, discriminant validity, and reliability. Floor and ceiling effects were not present in the measured data. The scale also depicts good configural, metric, and scalar invariances across sex groups. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that the translated scale is psychometrically sound for the assessment of Internet gaming disorders among youth in a Malaysian context.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aarseth, E., Bean, A. M., Boonen, H., Colder Carras, M., Coulson, M., Das, D., … Van Rooij, A. J. (2017). Scholars’ open debate paper on the World Health Organization ICD-11 gaming disorder proposal. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6(3), 267–270. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.088.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington: Author.
Arbuckle, J. L., & Wothke, W. (2006). Amos 7.0 user’s guide 7.0. Chicago: Small Waters Corporation.
Aricak, O. T., Dinç, M., Yay, M., & Griffiths, M. D. (2019). Adapting the short form of the internet gaming disorder scale into Turkish: Validity and reliability. Addicta: The Turkish Journal on Addiction. https://doi.org/10.15805/addicta.2019.6.1.0027.
Bentler, P. M. (2007). Covariance structure models for maximal reliability of unit-weighted composites. In S. Lee (Ed.), Handbook of computing and statistics with applications, Handbook of latent variable and related models (Vol. 1, pp. 1–19). New York: Elsevier.
Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88(3), 588–606. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.88.3.588
Bliege Bird, R., & Smith, E. A. (2005). Signaling theory, strategic interaction, and symbolic capital. Current Anthropology, 46(2), 221–248. https://doi.org/10.1086/427115.
Chan, D. (2011). Advances in analytical strategies. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 85–113). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/12169-004.
Chen, F. F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834.
Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem0902_5.
Daniel, J. (2012). Sampling essentials: Practical guidelines for making sampling choices. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Ltd..
de Palo, V., Monacis, L., Sinatra, M., Griffiths, M. D., Pontes, H., Petro, M., & Miceli, S. (2018). Measurement invariance of the nine-item internet gaming disorder scale (IGDS9-SF) across Albania, USA, UK, and Italy. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 17(4), 935–946. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9925-5.
Evren, C., Dalbudak, E., Topcu, M., Kutlu, N., Evren, B., & Pontes, H. M. (2018). Psychometric validation of the Turkish nine-item internet gaming disorder scale–short form (IGDS9-SF). Psychiatry Research, 265, 349–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.05.002.
Feng, W., Ramo, D. E., Chan, S. R., & Bourgeois, J. A. (2017). Internet gaming disorder: Trends in prevalence 1998–2016. Addictive Behaviors, 75, 17–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.06.010.
Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (4th ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd..
Geldhof, G. J., Preacher, K., & Zyphur, M. J. (2014). Reliability estimation in a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis framework. Psychological Methods, 19(1), 72–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032138.
Griffiths, M. D., van Rooij, A. J., Kardefelt-Winther, D., Starcevic, V., Király, O., Pallesen, S., … Demetrovics, Z. (2015). Working towards an international consensus on criteria for assessing Internet gaming disorder: A critical commentary on Petryet al. (2014). Addiction, 111(1), 167–175. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13057.
Hayton, J. C., Allen, D. G., & Scarpello, V. (2004). Factor retention decisions in exploratory factor analysis: A tutorial on parallel analysis. Organizational Research Method, 7(2), 191–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428104263675.
Helsinki Declaration (1975, 2005). Retrieved from https://www.wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-helsinki/doh-oct1975/.
Holmes-Smith, P. (2012). Structural equation modeling (using AMOS): From the fundamentals to advanced topics. Melbourne: School Research Evaluation and Measurement Services (SREAMS).
Horn, J. L. (1965). A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis. Psychometrika, 30, 179–185.
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118.
Jang, Y., & Ryu, S. (2011). Exploring game experiences and game leadership in massively multiplayer online role-playing games. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(4), 616–623. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01064.x.
Kardefelt-Winther, D. (2014). Problematizing excessive online gaming and its psychological predictors. Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 118–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.017.
Kenny, D. A. (2015). Measuring model fit. Retrieved from http://davidakenny.net/cm/fit.htm.
Kim, H. Y. (2013). Statistical notes for clinical researchers: Assessing normal distribution using skewness and kurtosis. Restorative Dentistry & Endodontics, 38(1), 52–54. https://doi.org/10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52.
Király, O., Sleczka, P., Pontes, H. M., Urbán, R., Griffiths, M. D., & Dementrovics, Z. (2017). Validation of the ten-item internet gaming disorder test (IGDT-10) and evaluation of the nine DSM-5 internet gaming disorder criteria. Addictive Behaviors, 64, 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.11.005.
Knight, G. P., Little, M., Losoya, S. H., & Mulvey, E. P. (2004). The self-report of offending among serious juvenile offenders: Cross-gender, cross-ethnic/race measurement equivalence. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2(3), 273–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204004265878.
Kuss, D. J., Griffiths, M. D., & Pontes, H. M. (2017). Chaos and confusion in DSM-5 diagnosis of internet gaming disorder: Issues, concerns, and recommendations for clarity in the field. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6(2), 103–109. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.062.
Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M., & Gentile, D. A. (2015). The internet gaming disorder scale. Psychological Assessment, 27(2), 567–582. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000062.
Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) (2016). Internet users survey 2016. Retrieved from http://www.mcmc.gov.my
Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). (2018). Internet users survey 2018. Retrieved from http://www.mcmc.gov.my
Ministy Youth and Sports (2018). Malaysia Youth Policy. Retrieved from http://www.kbs.gov.my/my/akta-pekeliling/dasar.html.
Monacis, L., de Palo, V., Griffiths, M. D., & Sinatra, M. (2016). Validation of the internet gaming disorder scale – Short-form (IGDS9-SF) in an Italian-speaking sample. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5(4), 683–690. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.083.
Muhaimin, M., Aziz, N., & Ariffin, M. (2019). Problematic of massively multiplayer online game addiction in Malaysia. Recent Trends in Data Science and Soft Computing, 749–760. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99007-1_69.
Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report. (2018). Retrieved from https://newzoo.com/insights/rankings/top-100-countries-by-game-revenues/.
O’connor, B. P. (2000). SPSS and SAS programs for determining the number of components using parallel analysis and Velicer’s MAP test. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 32, 396–402. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200807.
Personal Data Protection Act. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/LOM/EN/Act%20709%2014%206%202016.pdf.
Peterson, R. A., & Kim, Y. (2013). On the relationship between coefficient alpha and composite reliability. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(1), 194–198. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030767.
Pontes, H. M., & Griffiths, M. D. (2015). Measuring DSM-5 internet gaming disorder: Development and validation of a short psychometric scale. Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 137–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.12.006.
Pontes, H. M., Király, O., Demetrovics, Z., & Griffiths, M. D. (2014). The conceptualisation and measurement of DSM-5 internet gaming disorder: The development of the IGD-20 test. PLoS One, 9(10), e110137. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110137.
Pontes, H. M., Macur, M., & Griffiths, M. D. (2016). Internet gaming disorder among Slovenian primary schoolchildren: Findings from a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5(2), 304–310. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.042.
Steam Database. (2019). Retrieved from https://steamdb.info/app/570/graphs/.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Essex: Pearson Education.
Terwee, C. B., Bot, S. D. M., de Boer, M. R., van der Windt, D. A. W. M., Knol, D. L., Dekker, J., et al. (2007). Quality criteria were proposed for measurement properties of health status questionnaires. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 60(1), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2006.03.012.
Van Rooij, A. J., Schoenmakers, T. M., & van de Mheen, D. (2017). Clinical validation of the C-VAT 2.0 assessment tool for gaming disorder: A sensitivity analysis of the proposed DSM-5 criteria and the clinical characteristics of young patients with “video game addiction”. Addictive Behaviors, 64, 269–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.10.018.
Vandenberg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: Suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 3, 4–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810031002.
World Health Organization (2019). Process of translation and adaptation of instruments. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/research_tools/translation/en/.
Wuang, Y. P., Su, C. Y., & Huang, M. H. (2012). Psychometric comparisons of three measures for assessing motor functions in preschoolers with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 56(6), 567–578. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2011.01491.x.
Xia, B., Wang, H., & Zhou, R. (2017). What contributes to success in MOBA games? An empirical study of defense of the ancients 2. Games and Culture. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412017710599.
Yaghmaei, F. (2003). Content validity and its estimation. Journal of Medical Education, 3, 25–27 Retrieved from http://journals.sbmu.ac.ir/jme/article/view/870/769.
Yarkoni, T., & Westfall, J. (2017). Choosing prediction over explanation in psychology: Lessons from machine learning. Perspectives on Psychological Science., 12, 1100–1122. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617693393.
Yoon, T., & Cheon, H. (2013). Game playing as transitional cultural practice: A case study of Chinese gamers and Korean MMORPGs. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 17(5), 469–483. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877913505172.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements are extended to all participants of the present study and helpers in the data collection. The authors would like to extend gratitude to Dr. Priyalatha Govindasamy for contributing professional knowledge into the present study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
T’ng conducted data collection, statistical analyses and drafted the manuscript. Pau critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors had contributed to the manuscript intellectually and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
Authors declare no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
T’ng, S.T., Pau, K. Validation of a translated internet gaming disorder scale (short form) and measurement invariance across sex groups in Malaysian samples. Curr Psychol 39, 1977–1989 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00668-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00668-6