Shopping Addiction as a behavioural addiction: Validity of Measurement and Relationship with Personality, Social Functioning and Well-Being among Polish Undergraduate Students
Wygłosiła: Aleksandra Uzarska
Na: 25th International Student Scienitific Conference
Introduction: Compulsive buying refers to the chronic, repetitive purchasing in a response to negative events or feelings (O’Guinn & Faber, 1989) and has been commonly conceptualized within the framework of behavioral addictions.
However, due to the lack of sufficient data and systematic measures, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition recognizes it as „Disorder of Impulse Control Not Otherwise Specified”(American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Several tools have been developed to assess problematic spending, most of them, however, is based on the impulse-control paradigm (Andreassen et. Al, 2015). The Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale is a recent measure based on the core addiction components and has shown good validity and reliability in previous research.
Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to investigate validity and reliability of the Polish adaptation of Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale and to establish relationships between shopping addiction, personality, social functioning and well-being.
Methods: The sample consisted of 1156 students: 601 females (52.0%), 545 males (47.2%) and 10 persons (0.9%) who did not report gender, with mean age of M = 20.33 years (SD = 1.68). The participants were asked to fulfill the Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale and other questionnaires measuring personality traits, social functioning and well-being.
Results: The original 7-item one factor solution demonstrated mediocre fit to the data in factor analysis, with modification indices showing substantial covariance between error terms of Item 1 and Item 2. After allowing for correlations between these items the model had acceptable fit: CFI = .98, RMSEA = .073 (90% CI = .060 – .087). The correlation between residuals of the first and second item was .51. Cronbach’s alpha coeffictient was .87 Shopping addiction was related to being female, older, narcissistic, extroversive, low in agreeableness, low in conscientiousness and having a low sense of self-efficacy. The expected associations with loneliness, social anxiety and the impairment on well-being (quality of life, general health, sleep quality and perceived stress) were also confirmed.
Conclusions: In conclusion, students suffering from study addiction are equally satisfied with intimate relationships as nonaddicted students. Study addicts could be more satisfied with their intimate life than their partners and family. These results suggest also that more developmental, longitudinal approach to the study of quality of intimate life in study and work addicts is required. Addiction is progressive in nature and in many cases it takes time to observe its unequivocal negative effects. Further studies on the structure and function of social support in study addiction are necessary.