| Summary: | The current COVID-19 pandemic and ‘new normal’ has resulted in much distress
worldwide. Social media currently plays an essential role in information gathering.
Thus, time spent on social media has increased drastically, further increasing the
risk for internet-related addictions, such as social media addiction. This study
aimed to develop a COVID-19-related measure of social media addiction based
on the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) in order to aid in the
identification and evaluation of at-risk individuals. Social Media Addiction Scale
for COVID-19 Pandemic (SMACOP) was adapted from BSMAS to fit the context
of COVID-19 and pilot tested on 20 individuals. A total of 80 participants were
subsequently recruited through convenience sampling from the general public of
a public university in Malaysia, comprising of patients’ family, visitors, or hospital
staff. Construct validity was assessed using the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI),
Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9).
A two-factor structure was found for SMACOP, comprising of the factors ‘Desire’
and ‘Distress’. SMACOP shows good internal consistency (α = 0.64) and validity.
SMACOP scores were positively correlated with the PHQ9, GAD7, and ISI (p<.01).
SMACOP is a psychometrically valid instrument with high internal consistency,
which is especially useful during this time in assessing social media addiction in
relevance to COVID-19.
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