Psychometric Properties of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale in Korean Adolescents

Background: The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) is a self-report scale used to measure the severity of social media addiction symptoms. Although the BSMAS has been validated and proven to be reliable in Korean adults, few studies have examined its psychometric properties in Korean adolescents. Therefore, the aim of this study was to confirm the validity and reliability of the BSMAS in Korean adolescents. Methods: The BSMAS, the Social Media Addiction Proneness Scale (SMAPS), and the Social Network Site Use Motives Scale-Revised (SUMS-R) were administered to a cohort of 296 Korean adolescents. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to examine the construct validity. Internal consistency and convergent validity were examined. Additionally, measurement invariance tests across gender and age were conducted. Results: The modified one-factor model exhibited a good model fit. The BSMAS showed statistically significant correlations with all eight subscales of the SUMS-R and with the SMAPS, confirming convergent validity. The BSMAS showed high Cronbach’s α, and its items showed acceptable item-total correlations. Measurement invariance testing across genders confirmed configural and metric invariance, but scalar invariance was not achieved. In contrast, the measurement invariance test across age groups demonstrated stronger evidence of invariance. Conclusions: These results suggest that the BSMAS is a useful tool for assessing social media addiction in Korean adolescents and provide preliminary evidence of its validity in this population. However, the failure to confirm scalar invariance emphasizes that gender-specific comparisons should be interpreted with caution.