Psychometric evaluation of Persian Nomophobia Questionnaire: Differential item functioning and measurement invariance across gender

Lin, Chung-Ying and Griffiths, Mark D. and Pakpour, Amir H (2018) Psychometric evaluation of Persian Nomophobia Questionnaire: Differential item functioning and measurement invariance across gender. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7 (1). pp. 100-108. ISSN 2062-5871 (print); 2063-5303 (online)

Preview

Text 2006.7.2018.11.pdf Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (142kB) | Preview

Abstract

Background and aims: Research examining problematic mobile phone use has increased markedly over the past 5 years and has been related to “no mobile phone phobia” (so-called nomophobia). The 20-item Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) is the only instrument that assesses nomophobia with an underlying theoretical structure and robust psychometric testing. This study aimed to confirm the construct validity of the Persian NMP-Q using Rasch and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models. Methods: After ensuring the linguistic validity, Rasch models were used to examine the unidimensionality of each Persian NMP-Q factor among 3,216 Iranian adolescents and CFAs were used to confirm its four-factor structure. Differential item functioning (DIF) and multigroup CFA were used to examine whether males and females interpreted the NMP-Q similarly, including item content and NMP-Q structure. Results: Each factor was unidimensional according to the Rach findings, and the four-factor structure was supported by CFA. Two items did not quite fit the Rasch models (Item 14: “I would be nervous because I could not know if someone had tried to get a hold of me;” Item 9: “If I could not check my smartphone for a while, I would feel a desire to check it”). No DIF items were found across gender and measurement invariance was supported in multigroup CFA across gender. Conclusions: Due to the satisfactory psychometric properties, it is concluded that the Persian NMP-Q can be used to assess nomophobia among adolescents. Moreover, NMP-Q users may compare its scores between genders in the knowledge that there are no score differences contributed by different understandings of NMP-Q items.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item