Internet Addiction: Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the IAT in Macedonia

In this digital age there is a growing importance in global research of Internet addiction. The purpose of this research study is to establish a valid instrument for measuring the addictive use of Internet. We investigated the psychometric properties of the established Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT) on a Macedonian population. Since its development, there has been a number of culture-specific validation studies of the IAT, but never in cultures from south-east Europe. In a sample of 322 undergraduate participants, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) determined the presence of a three factor structure of the IAT with 17 items. The three factors, “Withdrawal and social problems”, “Time management” and “Failure and neglect” explained 38.43% of the total variance with good internal consistency for the IAT (Cronbach’s a = .89) and good reliability for the factors (.65–.84). Hence, this version of the IAT is a valid instrument with sound psychometric properties for measuring Internet addiction in a sample of participants from south-east Europe and may be used for further research.