Assessment of the accuracy of a new tool for the screening of smartphone addiction

OBJECTIVE: To translate, adapt and validate the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) in a Brazilian population of young adults. METHOD: We employed the translation and back-translation method for the adaptation of the Brazilian version SPAI (SPAI-BR). The sample consisted of 415 university students. Data was collected through an electronic questionnaire, which consisted of the SPAI-BR and the Goodman Criteria (gold standard). The retests were carried out 10–15 days after the initial tests with 130 individuals. RESULTS: The SPAI-BR maintained semantic, idiomatic and conceptual equivalences from the original scale. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed the One-factor model of the SPAI with good fit indexes (x(2) = 767.861, CFI = 0.913, TLI = 0.905, RMSE = 0.061, WRMR = 1.465). The Kuder-Richardson Coefficient showed good internal consistency. The analysis of the ROC curve established an area under the curve of 86.38%. The Intraclass-Correlation Coefficient of 0.926 between the test and the retest demonstrated an excellent temporal stability. The high correlation between SPAI-BR and the Goodman Criteria (rs = 0.750) established the convergent validity. CONCLUSION: The SPAI-BR is a valid and reliable tool for the detection of Smartphone Addiction in Brazilian university students.