Measuring problematic smartphone use in adolescents: psychometric properties of the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale (MPPUS-10) among Italian youth

Problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) may be the biggest non-drug addiction of the twenty-first century. This requires that sound – and possibly brief – measurement instruments are available, especially for adolescents, who are particularly at risk of PMPU. One of the most widely used short instruments to assess PMPU is the brief version of the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale (MPPUS-10). However, its dimensional structure is unclear, and the growth of PMPU among youth requires deeply testing the MPPUS-10 psychometric functioning with adolescents. The goal of this study was to investigate the psychometric proprieties of the MPPUS-10 in Italian adolescents, by particularly focusing on dimensionality, and analysing reliability and validity. Participants were 678 adolescents attending high school. Through exploratory factor analyses, the bidimensionality of the MPPUS-10 was supported, and it was corroborated by a multi-group cross-validation analysis. The internal consistency of the scale was good. As regards validity, the MPPUS-10 total and subscale scores resulted to be significantly correlated with time spent on the mobile phone and craving for mobile phone, self-esteem, and with symptoms of problem gaming and Internet addiction. Overall, the findings provide support for the adequacy of using the MPPUS-10 to assess PMPU among Italian adolescents.