Abstract
We present development and validation of the Digital Addiction Scale for
Teenagers (DAST), describing the pilot study (N = 40 students) and main
study (N = 4493) with Estonian students aged 11–19, in spring 2020. Our
aim was to create a scale suitable for psychoeducational assessment of
teenagers’ behaviour and feelings towards digital devices. We used the
mixed research framework (Onwuegbuzie, Bustamante, & Nelson, 2010).
Half of the study sample was collected before the coronavirus crisis
(Sample 1: 1972 students) and the rest of it during a distance learning
period (Sample 2: 2521 students). We found that factor structure in both
subsamples were similar. The DAST shows a negative relation with
emotional school engagement and life satisfaction and positive
correlations with school burnout, learning difficulties and screen time.
We discuss potential uses of the scale for assessing health related
digital competences.