Reliability and Validity of Mobile Phone Addiction Index for Chinese College Students

Objective: To test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of Mobile phone addiction index(MPAI).Methods: A sample of 1392 college students was tested, in which 50 students were selected for re-test five weeks later.Meanwhile, The Symptom Checklist-90(SCL-90) and General Well-Being Scale(GWB) were selected as the criterion measurement. Results: The results of confirmatory factor analysis support the first-order four- factor structure of model 2, the fit in dices were χ2/df=8.85, RMSEA=0.075, NFI=0.97, IFI=0.97, CFI=0.97, GFI=0.92, all meeting the criteria standards for adequacy of fit. The critical ratios of all the items in Chinese version of MPAI were significantly(P<0.001), the correlation between each item and the total score ranged from 0.57 to 0.71. The Cronbach’s α coefficients of the total scale, inability to control carving subscale, the feeling anxious and lost subscale, the withdrawal subscale and the productivity loss subscale respectively were 0.91, 0.84, 0.83, 0.87 and 0.81, and the test-retest reliability after 5 weeks were 0.69, 0.61, 0.70, 0.69 and 0.60 respectively. The total score and four factors of the Chinese version of MPAI showed a significantly positive correlation with that of the SCL-90 score(r=0.27~0.54, P<0.001), and significantly negative correlated with the score on the General Well- being Scale(r=-0.38~-0.49, P<0.001). Conclusion: The Chinese version of Mobile phone addiction index has good reliability and validity, which can be used as a useful tool to research mobile phone addiction in Chinese college students.