Pakistani Youth and Social Media Addiction: the Validation of Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS)

The objective of the present study was to condu ct a psychometric validation in a sample of university students of Pakistan. Responses of 713 respondents were included in the final analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was run to confirm construct validity, and results showed that the BFAS demonstrates a one-factor solution with high factor load ings for all items. Criterion validation was also performed through structural equation modeling. Results showed that the BFAS primarily measures intensity of usage in context of addiction. Internal consistency was proven through Cronbach’s alpha analysis which was above 0.78. To conclude, the BFA S can be used in both epidemiological and clinical settings. Longitudinal use of the BFAS on larger population can help to devise policies for positive social media networking in university students to improve mental health and social development.
Source: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction - Category: Addiction Source Type: research