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Internet Addiction: Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the IAT in Macedonia

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ICT Innovations 2016 (ICT Innovations 2016)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 665))

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Abstract

In this digital age there is a growing importance in global research of Internet addiction. The purpose of this research study is to establish a valid instrument for measuring the addictive use of Internet. We investigated the psychometric properties of the established Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT) on a Macedonian population. Since its development, there has been a number of culture-specific validation studies of the IAT, but never in cultures from south-east Europe. In a sample of 322 undergraduate participants, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) determined the presence of a three factor structure of the IAT with 17 items. The three factors, “Withdrawal and social problems”, “Time management” and “Failure and neglect” explained 38.43% of the total variance with good internal consistency for the IAT (Cronbach’s a = .89) and good reliability for the factors (.65–.84). Hence, this version of the IAT is a valid instrument with sound psychometric properties for measuring Internet addiction in a sample of participants from south-east Europe and may be used for further research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia

    Martin Mihajlov

  2. Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia

    Aleksandar Stojmenski

Authors
  1. Martin Mihajlov
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  2. Aleksandar Stojmenski
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Correspondence to Martin Mihajlov .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Paris, France

    Georgi Stojanov

  2. Skopje, Macedonia

    Andrea Kulakov

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Mihajlov, M., Stojmenski, A. (2018). Internet Addiction: Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the IAT in Macedonia. In: Stojanov, G., Kulakov, A. (eds) ICT Innovations 2016. ICT Innovations 2016. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 665. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68855-8_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68855-8_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68854-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68855-8

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