VISTAS Effective Counseling Interventions, Tools, and Techniques

VISTAS Online is an innovative publication produced for ACA by Dr. Garry R. Walz and Dr. Jeanne C. Bleuer of Counseling Outfitters, LLC. Its purpose is to provide a means of capturing the ideas, information and experiences generated by the annual ACA Conference and selected ACA Division Conferences. Papers on a program or practice that has been validated through research or experience may also be submitted. This digital collection of peer-reviewed articles is authored by counselors, for counselors. VISTAS Online contains the full text of over 900 proprietary counseling articles published from 2004 to 2017.



Adapting Young’s Internet Addiction Test for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Users: A Factor Analysis

Andrew M. Byrne, Shari M. Sias, and Min Kim

2016

The Internet Addiction Test (IAT), despite its status as the most-used instrument for measuring addictions to Internet activities, has not adequately illuminated the experiences of and potential for addiction in players of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Using a factor analysis, this article makes suggestions for improving the IAT’s applicability to online gamers. Players of the game World of Warcraft (n = 5,313) participated in an online survey that included the 20-question IAT modified for gamers. The results suggest the IAT is useful for massively MMORPGs’ users when content-specific
modifications to its items are made. Findings indicate a distinct profile for MMORPGs’ symptomology, despite differences in experience, gender, or ethnicity. This research demonstrates the importance of robust sampling of specific media user groups and individualized screening for behavioral addictions.
Keywords: Internet addiction, Internet Addiction Test, online gaming addiction,
uses and gratifications theory

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