Crosscultural Measurement Invariance of the Internet Addiction Test-Revised (IAT-R) Among Japanese and Filipino University Students

Abstract

This study investigated the measurement equivalence of the Internet Addiction Test-Revised (IAT-R) among university students. In the Asian College Health Assessment (ACHA), 200 Japanese and 348 Filipino university students completed a survey in 2016–2017 school year. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis was performed to examine the three hierarchical levels (configural, metric, and scalar) of measurement invariance. A first-order three-factor model with three domains, namely “Excessive Use, Lack of Control, and Neglect Work,” “Anticipation and Salient,” and “Neglect Social Life,” emerged. The fit indices were 0.958 for comparative fit index (CFI) and 0.025 (0.017–0.034) for root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) (confidence interval [90% CI]) in Japanese sample; and 0.962 for CFI and 0.068 (0.053–0.088) for RMSEA (90% CI) in Filipino sample. All three levels of measurement invariance between the two samples were established, with ΔCFI and ΔRMSEA not exceeding −0.01 and 0.015, respectively, for each increasing stringent level. The results indicated the measurement equivalence of IAT-R for assessing Internet addiction risks across cultural groups.