The reliability and validity of a screening scale for online gaming disorder among Chinese adolescents and young adults

• Published in: BMC psychiatry 2022-01, Vol.22 (1), p.28-28, Article 28
• Main Authors: Lyu, Xuechan, Chen, Tianzhen, Wang, Zhe, Lu, Jing, Ma, Chenyi, Tan, Haoye, Li, Runji, Wang, Peiyan, Ma, Limin, Li, Hongwei, Hui, Shuqin, Zhao, Wenli, Long, Jiang, Zhong, Na, Zhao, Min
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addictions; Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adolescents; Behavior, Addictive - diagnosis; Behavior, Addictive - epidemiology; Behavior, Addictive - psychology; Child & adolescent psychiatry; China; Chinese; Cognition; Complications and side effects; Compulsive gambling; Demographic aspects; Factor analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Identification and classification; Internet; Interviews; Male; Males; Mental disorders; Middle schools; Online gambling; Online gaming disorder; Principal components analysis; Psychiatry; Psychological aspects; Psychometrics; Quantitative psychology; Reproducibility of Results; Screening; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; Video Games - psychology; Young Adult; Young adults; Youth
• ISSN: 1471-244X; 1471-244X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12888-021-03678-1

In recent years, there have been frequent reports of gaming disorder in China, with more focus on young people. We developed and psychometrically tested a Gaming Disorder screening scale (i.e., Gaming Disorder Screening Scale - GDSS) for Chinese adolescents and young adults, based on the existing scales and diagnostic criteria, but also considering the development status of China. For testing content and criterion validity, 1747 participants competed the GDSS and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). After 15 days, 400 participants were retested with the scales for to assess test-retest reliability. Besides, 200 game players were interviewed for a diagnosis of gaming disorder. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient on the GDSS was 0.93. The test-retest coefficient of 0.79. Principal components analysis identified three factors accounting for 62.4% of the variance; behavior, functioning, cognition and emotion. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good model fit to the data (χ /df = 5.581; RMSEA =0.074; TLI = 0.916, CFI = 0.928). The overall model fit was significantly good in the measurement invariance tested across genders and different age groups. Based on the clinical interview, the screening cut-off point was determined to be ≥47 (sensitivity 41.4%, specificity 82.3%). The GDSS demonstrated good reliability and validity aspects for screening online gaming disorder among Chinese adolescents and young adults.