Psychometric evaluation of the adolescent and parent versions of the Gaming Addiction Identification Test (GAIT)

The objective of the study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Gaming Addiction Identification Test (GAIT) and its parent version (GAIT-P), in a representative community sample of adolescents and parents in Västmanland, Sweden. Self-rated and parent-rated gaming addictive symptoms identified by GAIT and GAIT-P were analyzed for frequency of endorsement, internal consistency, concordance, factor structure, prevalence of Internet gaming disorder (IGD), concurrence with the Gaming Addiction Scale for Adolescents, 7-item version (GAS) and the parent version of GAS (GAS-P), and for sex differences. The 12-month prevalence of IGD was found to be 1.3% with GAIT and 2.4% with GAIT-P. Results also indicate promising psychometric results within this population, with high internal consistency, and high concurrent validity with GAS and GAS-P. Concordance between adolescents and parents ratings was high, although moderate in girls. Although exploratory factor analysis indicated poor model fit, it also indicated unidimensionality and high factor loadings in all analyses. GAIT and GAIT-P are suitable for continued use in measuring gaming addiction in adolescents, and, with the additional two items, they now cover all nine IGD criteria.