Psychometric Properties and Factorial Structure of Social Networks Addiction Scale within Arabic Language & Palestinian Context
Date
2021-08-08
Authors
Wissam Ibrahim mohammad. Atwan
وسام إبراهيم محمد عطوان
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Al-Quds University
Abstract
The Palestinian society especially the youth have become more vulnerable to digital addiction, as they are in a very unique situation because of the Israeli occupation and the COVID19 aftermath. The Social Networks Addiction Scale is an internationally valid and reliable scale for social networks addiction measurement, yet it has never been tested before in Arabic language and on Palestinian subjects. The research seeks to validate the factorial and psychometric traits of this scale within the Palestinian community and then correlate the addictive behavior to the social media platforms of choice and the psychological well-being of the studied sample. The n=727 students from both genders aged 16-20 years old. Through employing Young Internet Addiction Test, Social Media Addiction Scale, WHO Quality of Life scale and the psychological scale of General Well-being. The scale achieved high scores regarding internal consistency EFA & CFA yielded four different dimensions than the original six; and upon the validity of the scale, it reflected a 46% addiction level among young Palestinians. Also the results indicated a ten times negative impact of social media addiction over the general well-being and quality of life within the study community, comparing addictive to non-addictive youth.