Research
Arabic validation of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS)
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* Corresponding author: Yasser Khazaal yasser.khazaal@hcuge.ch
1 Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
2 Islamic University, Khaldeh, Lebanon
3 Psychological Sciences Research Institute. Catholic University of Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2011, 6:32 doi:10.1186/1747-597X-6-32
Published: 29 November 2011Abstract
Background
The popularity of using the Internet and related applications has grown in Arabic countries in recent years. Despite numerous advantages in terms of optimizing communications among individuals and social systems, the use of the Internet may in certain cases become problematic and engender negative consequences in daily life. As no instrument in the Arabic language is available, however, to measure excessive Internet use, the goal of the current study was to validate an Arabic version of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS).
Methods
The Arabic version of the CIUS was administered to a sample of 185 Internet users and exploratory and confirmatory analyses performed.
Results
As found previously for the original version, a one-factor model of the CIUS had good psychometric properties and fit the data well. The total score on the CIUS was positively associated with time spent online.
Conclusion
The Arabic version of the CIUS seems to be a valid self-report to measure problematic Internet use.