Validation of the Social Media Disorder Scale using network analysis in a large representative sample of Czech adolescents

Background: The importance of studying the excessive use of social media in adolescents is increasing and so is the need for in-depth evaluations of the psychometric properties of the measurement tools. This study investigated the properties of the Social Media Disorder Scale (SMDS) in a large representative sample of Czech adolescents.

Methods: We analyzed the representative sample of 13,377 Czech adolescents (50.9% boys), 11-16 years old, who participated in the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey (2017-18), using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and network models. Furthermore, we evaluated the measurement invariance and constructed the validity of the SMDS.

Results: We found support for a single dominant factor but not for strict unidimensionality. Several residual correlations were identified. The strongest were for: problems-conflicts-deceptions; persistence-escape; and preoccupation-tolerance-withdrawal. Girls, particularly 13- and 15-year-olds, scored higher than boys in the same age group, and 13- and 15-year-olds achieved higher scores than 11-year-olds, although some items were not invariant between the groups. The SMDS was positively related to other online activities, screen time, and falling asleep late, but negatively related to well-being and mental health.

Discussion and conclusions: The SMDS showed solid psychometric properties and construct validity. However, small violations of measurement invariance were detected. Furthermore, the network analysis showed important residual relationships between the items.