Examination of the Psychometric Characteristics of the Italian Version of the Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents

Abstract

In the last years, the interest in Internet Gaming Disorder has grown considerably, which has necessitated the development of valid and reliable tools in different cultural contexts. Although, in the scientific literature, there are several measures that evaluate the Internet Gaming Disorder, the Game Addiction Scale has shown to be a valid questionnaire specifically designed for adolescents and based on the Griffiths’ theory of components model of behavioral addiction. For this reason, the aim of this study is to verify the psychometric characteristics of the Italian translation of the full and short form of the Game Addiction Scale in a sample of 452 Italian adolescents (190 males and 262 females), aged between 13 and 17 years (M = 14.75; SD = 1.21). A series of confirmatory factor analyses was used to assess the Game Addiction Scale factorial structure, and the comparison of the models showed that the best fitting model was the Bifactor Model for the full form, while the unidimensional structure showed good fit for the short form of the Game Addiction Scale. Furthermore, both versions showed good reliability and correlations with Internet Addiction and hours of gaming. In sum, the Game Addiction Scale can be considered a relevant instrument for investigating Internet Gaming Disorder in Italian adolescents.