JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Short video dependence (SVD) has become a significant mental health issue around the world. The lack of scientific tools to assess SVD levels hampers further advancement in this area.

Objective:

The current study aims to develop and validate a scientific tool to measure SVD levels, ensuring a scientifically determined cutoff point.

Methods:

We first interviewed 115 highly engaged short video users aged 15 to 63 years. Based on the summary of the interview and references to the DSM-5 proposed criteria for behavioral addictions, we proposed the first version of the short video dependence scale (SVDS). Secondly, we screened the items by item analysis (2nd version) and extracted common factors using exploratory factor analysis (3rd version) and confirmatory factor analysis (final version). Thirdly, convergent validity was tested with other scales (Chinese Internet Addction Scale and DSM-5). Finally, we tested the validity of the final version on 16,038 subjects and used set the diagnostic cut-off point through latent profile analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses.

Results:

The final version of the SVDS contained 20 items and four dimensions, which showed strong structural validity (KMO = 0.94), internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.93), good convergent validity (rCIAS = 0.61, rDSM-5 = 0.68, P < 0.01), sensitivity (0.77, 0.83, 0.87, 0.62), and specificity (0.75, 0.87, 0.80, 0.79). Additionally, the SVDS score of 58 was determined as the best cut-off score, and latent profile analysis identified a 5-class model for SVD.

Conclusions:

The current study developed a tool to measure short video dependence levels and established a threshold to differentiate dependent users from highly engaged non-dependent users. This offers opportunities for further research on the impacts of short video use.