Journals / Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 39 Sayı: 2

Digital Addiction Scale for Preschoolers (DASP): A Validity and Reliability Study

Okul Öncesi Dönem Çocukları İçin Dijital Bağımlılık Ölçeği (ODBÖ): Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik Çalışması

Ensar Yıldız(SIVAS CUMHURIYET UNIVERSITY)0000-0003-3741-1121
Sibel Karabekmez(AGRI IBRAHIM CECEN UNIVERSITY)0000-0003-3017-5234
Umur Öç(Ministry of National Education)0000-0002-1269-1115
Ayşenur Koç(SIVAS CUMHURIYET UNIVERSITY)0009-0006-9306-1719
Pages
444–462
Publication Date
2026-08-05
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Within this context, the scale developed in the present study represents the first measurement tool specifically designed to assess digital addiction among preschool children aged 5–6 years and enables data collection directly from the children.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:The objective of this study is to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess digital addiction in preschool children aged 5-6 years.
📊
Key Findings & Data:The study population consists of children aged 5-6 from a provincial center in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Within this context, the scale developed in the present study represents the first measurement tool specifically designed to assess digital addiction among preschool children aged 5–6 years and enables data collection directly from the children.
🔬Design:Survey & Empirical Study
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Dijital bağımlılık · Okul öncesi · Ölçek geliştirme

Abstract

The objective of this study is to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess digital addiction in preschool children aged 5-6 years. The survey model, one of the quantitative research designs, was used in this research. The study population consists of children aged 5-6 from a provincial center in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. A total of 361 children participated: 204 in the EFA (including 65 in the pilot) and 157 in the CFA. Additionally, criterion validity was assessed through an additional application involving 50 children. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted first to assess validity and reliability, followed by a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The scale's reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's Alpha, which yielded a value of 0.836. The total explained variance was found to be 58.662%. Based on the results of this study, the DASP was developed as a valid and reliable scale for measuring digital addiction in preschool children, comprising four dimensions: excessive use, uncontrolled use, unconscious use, and inability to quit. Within this context, the scale developed in the present study represents the first measurement tool specifically designed to assess digital addiction among preschool children aged 5–6 years and enables data collection directly from the children.

Özet

Bu çalışmanın amacı, 5-6 yaş okul öncesi çocuklarda dijital bağımlılığı değerlendirmek için geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçme aracı geliştirmektir. Bu araştırmada nicel araştırma türlerinden biri olan tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın evrenini, Türkiye'nin İç Anadolu Bölgesi'ndeki bir il merkezindeki 5-6 yaş grubu çocuklar oluşturmaktadır. Toplam 361 çocuk katıldı: 204'ü AFA'da (pilot çalışmada yer alan 65 çocuk dahil) ve 157'si CFA'da. Ayrıca 50 çocukla yapılan bir uygulama ile ölçüt geçerliği değerlendirilmiştir. Geçerlik ve güvenirlik değerlendirmeleri için önce Açımlayıcı Faktör Analizi (AFA), ardından Doğrulayıcı Faktör Analizi (DFA) yapılmıştır. Ölçeğin güvenirliği Cronbach's Alpha kullanılarak değerlendirilmiş ve 0.836 değerine ulaşılmıştır. Açıklanan toplam varyans %58,662 olarak bulunmuştur. Bu çalışmanın sonuçlarına dayanarak okul öncesi çocuklarda dijital bağımlılığı ölçmek için aşırı kullanım, kontrolsüz kullanım, bilinçsiz kullanım ve bırakamama olmak üzere dört boyutu kapsayan geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçek geliştirilmiştir. Bu bağlamda, mevcut çalışmada geliştirilen ölçek 5-6 yaş grubu okul öncesi çocuklarda dijital bağımlılığı değerlendirmek üzere özel olarak geliştirilen ilk ölçüm aracı olup verilerin doğrudan çocuklardan toplanmasına olanak tanımaktadır.

🔖

Cite This Article

Yıldız, E., Karabekmez, S., Öç, U., Koç, A., *, S. K. (2026). Digital Addiction Scale for Preschoolers (DASP): A Validity and Reliability Study. Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, Cilt: 39 Sayı: 2, 444–462. https://doi.org/10.19171/uefad.1790985

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (67)

  1. Altınok, M. (2021). Investigation of high school students' digital addiction and life satisfaction. The Journal of Turkish Educational Sciences, 19(1), 262-291. https://doi.org/10.37217/tebd.689774
  2. Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, social media & technology 2018. Pew Research Center.
  3. Billieux, J., Schimmenti, A., Khazaal, Y., Maurage, P., & Heeren, A. (2015). Are we overpathologizing everyday life? A tenable blueprint for behavioral addiction research. Journal of behavioral addictions, 4(3), 119-123. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.4.2015.009
  4. Brand, M., Young, K. S., & Laier, C. (2014). Prefrontal control and Internet addiction: A theoretical model and review of neuropsychological and neuroimaging findings. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, e375.
  5. Brown, T. A. (2015). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. Guilford publications.
  6. Budak, K. S., & Işıkoğlu, N. (2022). Development of children’s digital play addiction tendency and parental mediation scales. Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences (JFES), 55(3), 693-740.
  7. Budak, K. S., & Işıkoğlu, N. (2023). Digital play addiction tendencies in early childhood: Effects of child and parent characteristics. Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Education Faculty, 66, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.21764/maeuefd.1081497
  8. Canadian Paediatric Society DHTF (2017). Screen time and young children: Promoting health and development in a digital world. Paediatrics & Child Health, 2(8), 461-468. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxx123
  9. Canseven, A., Nalçakan, G. R., Varol, R., & Saracaloğlu, A. S. (2021). The relationship between coordinative and conditional skills and digital addiction of children. International Journal of Sport Exercise and Training Sciences (IJSETS), 7(4), 127-137. https://doi.org/10.18826/useeabd.1016613
  10. Cattell, R. B. (1966). The scree test for the number of factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1(2), 245-276. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr0102_10
  11. Christakis, D. A. (2009). The effects of infant media usage: What do we know and what should we learn? Acta Paediatrica, 98(1), 8-16.
  12. Common Sense Media. (2025). The common sense census: media use by kids zero to eight. Available online at: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2025-common-sense-census-web-2.pdf
  13. Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(1), 98-104.
  14. Creswell, J. W. & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage.
  15. Çelik, E., & Çelik, O. T. (2023). Antecedents and consequences of digital addiction in children: A metasynthesis study. Journal of Milli Egitim, 52(239), 1913-1944. https://doi.org/10.37669/milliegitim.1156463
  16. Çokluk Ö., Şekercioğlu G., & Büyüköztürk Ş. (2021). Sosyal bilimler için çok değişkenli istatistik: SPSS ve LISREL uygulamaları [Multivariate statistics for social sciences: Applications of SPSS and LISREL]. Pegem.
  17. Darga, H. (2021). Digital games played at home by 5-6 year old children attending kindergarten and determining parents' behaviors. Journal of Computer and Education Research, 9(17), 447-479. https://doi.org/10.18009/jcer.876987
  18. Davis, R. A. (2001). A cognitive-behavioral model of pathological Internet use. Computers in Human Behavior, 17(2), 187-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0747-5632(00)00041-8
  19. DeVellis, R. F. (2014). Scale development: Theory and applications (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
  20. Domoff, S. E., Borgen, A. L., Foley, R. P., & Maffett, A. (2019a). Excessive use of mobile devices and children's physical health. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 1(2), 169–175. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.145
  21. Domoff, S. E., Harrison, K., Gearhardt, A. N., Gentile, D. A., Lumeng, J. C., & Miller, A. L. (2019b). Development and validation of the Problematic Media Use Measure: A parent report measure of screen media “addiction” in children. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(1), 2-11. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000163
  22. Erkuş, A. (2014). Psikolojide ölçme ve ölçek geliştirme-I: Temel kavramlar ve işlemler (7th Ed.). Pegem.
  23. Field, A. (2000). Discovering statistics using SPSS for Windows: Advanced techniques for beginners. Sage.
  24. Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). Sage.
  25. Floyd, F. J., & Widaman, K. F. (1995). Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments. Psychological assessment, 7(3), 286-299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.7.3.286
  26. Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education (8th Ed.). McGraw-Hill.
  27. Gallucci, M., & Jentschke, S. (2021). SEMLj: Jamovi SEM Analysis. [jamovi module]. https://semlj.github.io/
  28. Gentile, D. A., Choo, H., Liau, A., Sim, T., Li, D., Fung, D., & Khoo, A. (2011). Pathological video game use among youths: A two-year longitudinal study. Pediatrics, 127(2), e319-e329. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-1353
  29. Gorsuch, R. L. (1974). Factor analysis. Saunders.
  30. Gökalp A. (2021). Responsibility scale: Validity and reliability study. Future Visions Journal, 5(1), 31-38.
  31. Griffiths, M. (2005). A ‘components’ model of addiction within a biopsychosocial framework. Journal of Substance Use, 10(4), 191-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14659890500114359
  32. Hawi, N. S., Samaha, M., & Griffiths, M. D. (2019). The digital addiction scale for children: Development and validation. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 22(12), 771-778. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0132
  33. Hazar, Z., & Hazar, M. (2017). Digital game addiction scale for children. Journal of Human Sciences, 14(1), 203-216. https://doi.org/10.14687/jhs.v14i1.4387
  34. Kabali, H. K., Irigoyen, M. M., Nunez-Davis, R., Budacki, J. G., Mohanty, S. H., Leister, K. P., & Bonner, R. L. (2015). Exposure and use of mobile media devices by young children. Pediatrics, 136(6), 1044-1050. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-2151
  35. Kaçmaz, C., Cumurcu, H. B., & Çelik, O. T. (2023). Adaptation of the Digital Addiction Scale for Children into Turkish: Reliability and validity analysis. Journal of Dependence, 24(4), 495-506. https://doi.org/10.51982/bagimli.1261063
  36. Kaiser, H. F. (1960). The application of electronic computers to factor analysis. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20(1), 141-151. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316446002000116
  37. Kaya, E. (2021). Social inequality and digital literacy: A field research on high school students. Journal of Critical Communication, 3(2), 32-69. https://doi.org/10.53281/kritik.984041
  38. Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. (5th Ed.). The Guilford Press.
  39. Konok, V., Pogány, Á., & Miklósi, Á. (2017). Mobile attachment: Separation from the mobile phone induces physiological and behavioural stress and attentional bias to separation-related stimuli. Computers in Human Behavior, 71, 228-239.
  40. Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2012). Internet gaming addiction: A systematic review of empirical research. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 10, 278-296.
  41. Leech, N. L., Barrett, K. C. & Morgan, G. A. (2008). SPSS for intermediate statistics: Use and interpretation (3th Ed.). Routledge.
  42. Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2009). Development and validation of a game addiction scale for adolescents. Media Psychology, 12(1), 77-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213260802669458
  43. Maruyama, G. M. (1997). Basics of structural equation modeling. Sage.
  44. Matthias, O., Lichy, J., McLeay, F., & Burdfield, C. (2022). Understanding pre-teen consumers’ social media engagement. International Journal of Consumer Studies.
  45. Neumann, M. M. (2016). Young children's use of touch screen tablets for writing and reading at home: Relationships with emergent literacy. Computers & Education, 97, 61-68.
  46. Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research. Adm Policy Ment Health, 42, 533-544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y
  47. Plowman, L. (2016). Learning technology at home and preschool. In N. Rushby & D. W. Surry (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of learning technology (pp. 96–112). John Wiley & Sons.
  48. Ponti, M. (2023). Screen time and preschool children: Promoting health and development in a digital world. Paediatrics & child health, 28(3), 184-192. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxac125
  49. Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., Lin, L. Y., Rosen, D., Colditz, J. B., Radovic, A., & Miller, E. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 53(1), 1-8.
  50. Psailla, G., & Wagner, R. (Eds.). (2007). E-Commerce and WebTechnologies: 8th International Conference, EC-Web 2007, Regensburg, Germany, September 3-7, 2007, Proceedings (Vol.4655). Springer.
  51. Radesky, J. S., & Christakis, D. A. (2016). Increased screen time: Implications for early childhood development and behavior. Pediatric Clinics,63(5), 827-839.
  52. Radesky, J. S., Schumacher, J., & Zuckerman, B. (2016). Mobile and interactive media use by young children: The good, the bad, and the unknown. Pediatrics Perspectives, 135(1), 1-3.
  53. Rideout, V. (2017). The common sense census: Media use by kids age zero to eight. Common Sense Media.
  54. Rideout, V. J., Foehr, U. G., & Roberts, D. F. (2010). Generation M2: Media in the lives of 8- to 18-year-olds. Kaiser Family Foundation.
  55. Schermelleh-Engel, K., Moosbrugger, H., & Müller, H. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of psychological research online, 8(2), 23-74.
  56. Schober, P., Boer, C., & Schwarte, L. A. (2018). Correlation coefficients: Appropriate use and interpretation. Anesthesia & analgesia, 126(5), 1763-1768. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000002864
  57. Shanmugasundaram, M., & Tamilarasu, A. (2023). The impact of digital technology, social media, and artificial intelligence on cognitive functions: A review. Frontiers in Cognition, 2, 1203077.
  58. Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. National Academy Press.
  59. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics. Pearson
  60. Taş, İ. (2019). Internet addiction scale for adolescents: Validity and reliability study. Journal of Kırşehir Education Faculty, 20(2), 875-905.
  61. Thompson, B. (2004). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: Understanding concepts and applications. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10694-000
  62. Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2018). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive Medicine Reports, 12, 271-283.
  63. Ünsal, A., & Ulutaş, İ. (2019). Psychometric properties of computer game addiction scale for preschool children. Aksaray University Social Sciences Institute Journal, 3(2), 324-342.
  64. World Health Organization [WHO] (2019). Guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age. World Health Organization. https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/portal/resource/pt/biblio-1283275
  65. Yengil, E., Güner, P. D., & Topakkaya, Ö. K. (2019). The use of technological devices in pre-school and parents. The Medical Journal of Mustafa Kemal University, 10(36), 14-19.
  66. Young, K. S. (1996). Psychology of computer use: XL. Addictive use of the Internet: A case that breaks the stereotype. Psychological reports, 79(3), 899-902.
  67. Young, K. S. (1998). Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1(3), 237-244.