Addict Behav. 2025 Aug 8;170:108449. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108449. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Gaming-specific maladaptive cognitions were critical determinants of internet gaming disorder (IGD). This study was novel to develop and validate the Time Perspective Scale of Perceived Benefits and Harms of Internet Gaming (TPS-PBHIG) by integrating the concepts of present- and future-oriented time perspectives, perceived benefits, and perceived harms of internet gaming.
METHODS: Item generation was conducted by using both inductive (focus group interviews among adolescents) and deductive (comprehensive literature review) approaches. Content validity was examined by both item-level and scale-level indicators. Comprehensive psychometric properties were then examined in a validation sample of 1,000 middle school students in Taizhou, Rui’an, and Yiwu, China, with an anonymous, structured survey (March/April 2024).
RESULTS: The TPS-PBHIG included 21 items, demonstrating satisfactory content validity regarding clarity, relevance, and importance. In the validation sample, both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a 4-factor model (perceived immediate personal and social benefits, perceived future personal and social benefits, perceived personal harms, and perceived social harms). The scale/subscales of TPS-PBHIG in general showed satisfactory psychometric properties, including the absence of ceiling/floor effects, internal consistency, convergent validity, and divergent validity. Perceived immediate/future benefits were positively correlated with both IGD and gaming time, while perceived personal/social harms were significantly correlated with IGD, but not gaming time.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The TPS-PBHIG developed in this study provides a reliable and valid tool to assess perceived benefits and harms of internet gaming in both present-oriented and future-oriented time perspectives among Chinese adolescents.
PMID:40812268 | DOI:10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108449
