The Test of Problematic Using of the Internet—Adaptation of the Instrument for a Group of People With Mild Intellectual Disability and a Preliminary Analysis of Its Psychometric Properties

Abstract

The aim of the presented research was to adapt the Test of Problematic Using of the Internet (TPUI) for a group of people with mild intellectual disability and offer a preliminary analysis of its psychometric properties. The TPUI is an instrument that allows the measurement of problematic Internet use. Problematic Internet use is defined as “excessive involvement in the use of certain Internet applications (mainly related to interactivity) with clear features of addictive behaviour, causing psychological, social and health problems” (Poprawa, 2011a, p. 217). The TPUI was subjected to psychometric verification in research involving 178 students with mild intellectual disability. Considering the diverse aetiology of intellectual disability, adolescents diagnosed with a genetic syndrome and adolescents with multiple disabilities were excluded from the study. Firstly, the analysis focused on descriptive statistics and distribution. Subsequently, exploratory, reliability and confirmatory analyses were applied. Finally, instrument standardisation was performed. The preliminary results lead to the conclusion that the Test of Problematic Using of the Internet is probably an instrument allowing a reliable and accurate measurement of problematic use of the Internet among adolescents with mild intellectual disability. Confirmation of these conclusions requires conducting further analyses on a sufficiently large group of students.