TRANSLATION AND PSYCHOMETRIC VALIDATION OF DIGITAL ADDICTION SCALE IN PAKISTANI CONTEXT

The last decade of the 20th century is marked by growing literature regarding behavioral addictions. Among them, digital addiction is a phenomenon that has been explored across different cultures (e.g., Dilci, 2019). The Digital Addiction Scale (Kesici & Tunç, 2018), developed in the Turkish culture, has significant implications in an Eastern context. Despite this relevance, DAS has not been validated in Pakistani culture. Therefore, the current study aims to address this gap in literature by translating DAS into Urdu and examining its psychometric properties. The study used a two-phase research design. Phase I involved following MAPI guidelines to translate DAS into Urdu language. Phase II included empirical validation of DAS on a sample of 300 young adults, aged 18-25 years (Mage= 21.7, SD = 1.96). The findings of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the Urdu version had excellent internal consistency (α = 0.90, ω = 0.93). The factor loadings ranged from 0.66 to 0.86. The analysis supported the original factor structure with acceptable fit indices. Both composite reliability and the HTMT ratio confirmed convergent and discriminant validity, respectively. This study establishes the validity and reliability of the Urdu DAS for measuring digital addiction, offering a valuable tool for cross-cultural research and assessment among Urdu-speaking populations.