Psychometric characteristics of the Italian version of the Assessment of Criteria for Specific Internet-use Disorders (ACSID-11)

Background: The importance of a comprehensive screening across different technological addictions was emphasized, since some evidence suggests that they often co-occur. Recently, Müller and colleagues (2022) have developed a measure of specific Internet-use disorders based on ICD-11 criteria for gaming disorder in order to study the frequency and intensity of various technological addictions with the same items and improve comparability. This study aims to explore some psychometric characteristics of the Italian version of the ACSID-11. Method: To date, 988 individuals (F = 80.4%; Mage = 43.14, SD = 13.26) completed online the ACSID-11 and measures to assess criterion validity. 788 participants (F = 79.5%; Mage = 42.78, SD = 13.26) also completed measures to assess anxiety, depression, life satisfaction and dissociation. Results: Prevalence of online engagement was as follows: 98.5% social media, 89.4% shopping, 37.7% gaming, 24.1% pornography, 5.8% gambling. Due to the highest prevalence, we focused on the results regarding social networking sites (SNSs) use, gaming and shopping. For both problematic SNSs use and shopping, the CFA supported the proposed four-factor solution (i.e., Impaired Control, Increased Priority, and Continuation/Escalation, and Functional Impairment), which showed a superior fit compared to the unidimensional solution. Moreover, we found moderate-to-large correlations with the criterion variables. We will further explore the gaming scale with a larger sample since the fit indices at the moment do not indicate a good fit. Conclusion: The Italian version of the ACSID-11 may be a useful instrument for studying technological addictions with the same items and improving comparability.