Psychometric properties of the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale for Portuguese adults

Hugo Rodrigues Fernandes, Helena P. Pereira, Mário Pinto Gonçalves, Eduarda Zenaida Ramião, Helena Isabel Antunes, Fátima Cristina Fernandes, Isabel Cristina Barbosa

Abstract

Background: The research about online behavior addiction suggests the importance of improving assessment methods and deepening the knowledge about this phenomenon.

Goals: To characterize main psychometric properties of the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS) for Portuguese adults.

Methods: This cross-sectional study design involved Portuguese participants who were selected by snowball-convenience sampling. Data were collected through online survey of sociodemographic and BFAS, with invitations distributed by Facebook. Data analysis was performed through descriptive and reliability tests, as well factorial and invariance analysis.

Results: The sample was composed of 444 Portuguese people between 18 and 73 years old. Reliability estimate for the one-factor solution was .795, suggesting good internal consistency reliability properties. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed congruence with original unifactorial model of BFAS. Multigroup analysis supported measurement invariance across sex and education level.

Discussion: These results suggest reliability and validity. Invariance evidence was also confirmed for the BFAS in a Portuguese sample of Facebook users. These results contribute to the validation process of the Portuguese version of the BFAS, encouraging further studies with different clinical and non-clinical groups.

Keywords

Online behavior addiction, Virtual social networks, Screen exposure, Psychometric properties, Internal consistency

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.33525/pprj.v6i1.3

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