The psychometric properties of the general phubbing scale in adolescents

Abstract

Purpose: Numerous studies indicate that the use of smartphones among adolescents has increased recently. Studies on phubbing generally focus on how parental phubbing affects adolescents. This study aims to contribute to the literature by revealing the validity and reliability of the scale measuring phubbing behavior in adolescents. Material and methods: The sample included 206 adolescents aged 12-17 who applied to Pamukkale University Medical Faculty Hospital Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinics and Kırıkkale Yüksek İhtisas Hospital Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic. Results: To evaluate the construct validity of the General Phubbing Scale (GPS) in adolescents, first and second level confirmatory factor analyses were performed. The data model fit was shown to be at an acceptable level. The general phubbing was negatively related to social connectedness and positively related to internet addiction. Test-retest analysis indicated that the subdimensions nomophobia, interpersonal conflict, self-isolation, problem acknowledgment, and total score were 0.82, 0.80, 0.71, 0.66 and 0.81, respectively. The coefficients of internal consistency for the subdimensions of nomophobia, interpersonal conflict, self-isolation, problem acknowledgment, and total score were 0.78, 0.85, 0.92, 0.77, and 0.94. Furthermore, it has been shown that the GPS structure was identical for both genders. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the GPS can be used as a valid and reliable measurement tool for determining general phubbing levels for the clinical adolescent sample.