French validation of the 7-item Game Addiction Scale for adolescents

Introduction. - The Game Addiction Scale (GAS: Lemmens, Valkenburg, 82 Peter, 2008, 2009) is a short instrument (7-item) for evaluating video game playing by adolescents. Objective. - The aim of the current research was to investigate the psychometric properties of a French version of the 7-item Game Addiction Scale for adolescents. Method. - Two studies were conducted with two samples of French adolescents between the ages of 10 and 18 (study 1: n = 159; study 2: n = 306). First, we examined the factor structure and internal consistency. Second, we added a concurrent validity analysis with estimation of the daily time spent playing video games and an assessment of depression and anxiety. Results. - In both studies, the factor analysis revealed a one-factor structure that had good psychometric properties and fit the data well. The analysis also confirmed good internal consistency of the scale. Correlation analysis in the second study showed that the GAS score had significant positive relationships with the time spent playing video games, depression, anxiety, and the fact of being a boy, thereby supporting the concurrent validity of the scale. Conclusion. - This French version of the GAS seems to be a reliable tool for identifying and assessing problematic use of video games. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.