Development and validation of a brief scale to measure short-videos addiction: The Short-Videos Addiction Scale-6 items (SVAS-6)

OBJECTIVE To develop and validate a brief scale to measure short-videos addiction, i.e., the Short-Videos Addiction Scale-6 items (SVAS-6). METHOD Construct validity of the SVAS-6 was assessed through corrected item–total correlations and confirmatory factor analysis. Concurrent validity was examined using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4), and the Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10). Reliability was evaluated through multiple indices, including Cronbach’s alpha, McDonald’s omega, Cohen’s kappa, and the intraclass correlation coefficient. Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis was employed to determine the optimal cut-off point for the SVAS-6, using the PHQ-4 as external criterion. RESULTS Corrected item–total correlations and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the final version of the SVAS-6 includes six items in one factor. Concurrent validity of the SVAS-6 was excellent since we found statistically significant correlations between the SVAS-6 and the BSMAS, the PHQ-4, and the BFI-10. Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s Omega for the SVAS-6 was 0.799 and 0.808, respectively. Cohen’s kappa for the six items ranged from 0.667 to 0.913 (p < 0.001 in all cases). Additionally, intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.994 (p < 0.001). Thus, the reliability of the SVAS-6 was excellent. The best cut-off point for the SVAS-6 was 15, indicating that short-videos users with SVAS-6 score ≥ 15 were considered as users with a problematic short-videos use and high probability of addiction issues, and those with SVAS-6 score < 15 as healthy users. CONCLUSIONS The SVAS-6 is a one-factor 6-item scale with great reliability and validity. The SVAS-6 is a short and easy-to-use tool that measures levels of short-videos addiction in a couple of minutes. Valid measurement of short-videos addiction with brief and valid tools is essential to further understand predictors and consequences of this phenomenon.