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Problematic mobile phone use in adolescents: derivation of a short scale MPPUS-10

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

Our aim was to derive a short version of the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale (MPPUS) using data from 412 adolescents of the Swiss HERMES (Health Effects Related to Mobile phonE use in adolescentS) cohort.

Methods

A German version of the original MPPUS consisting of 27 items was shortened by principal component analysis (PCA) using baseline data collected in 2012. For confirmation, the PCA was carried out again with follow-up data 1 year later.

Results

PCA revealed four factors related to symptoms of addiction (Loss of Control, Withdrawal, Negative Life Consequences and Craving) and a fifth factor reflecting the social component of mobile phone use (Peer Dependence). The shortened scale (MPPUS-10) highly reflects the original MPPUS (Kendalls’ Tau: 0.80 with 90% concordant pairs). Internal consistency of MPPUS-10 was good with Cronbach’s alpha: 0.85. The results were confirmed using the follow-up data.

Conclusions

The MPPUS-10 is a suitable instrument for research in adolescents. It will help to further clarify the definition of problematic mobile phone use in adolescents and explore similarities and differences to other technological addictions.

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Acknowledgments

The HERMES study was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 138190). In addition, the research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the grant agreement no. 603794—the GERONIMO project. Many thanks go to the study participants and their parents for participating in the HERMES study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4002, Basel, Switzerland

    Milena Foerster, Katharina Roser, Anna Schoeni & Martin Röösli

  2. University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Milena Foerster, Katharina Roser, Anna Schoeni & Martin Röösli

Authors
  1. Milena Foerster
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  2. Katharina Roser
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  3. Anna Schoeni
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  4. Martin Röösli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Röösli.

Additional information

This article is part of the special issue “Communication Technology, Media Use and the Health of Our Kids”.

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Foerster, M., Roser, K., Schoeni, A. et al. Problematic mobile phone use in adolescents: derivation of a short scale MPPUS-10. Int J Public Health 60, 277–286 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-015-0660-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-015-0660-4

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