Scientific background: SOMEDIS-A (Social Media)

About this test

SOMEDIS-A was developed in 2021 by Paschke, Austermann, and Thomasius at the German Center for Addiction Research in Childhood and Adolescence (DZSKJ, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf) -- adapted from the same team's already-validated Gaming Disorder Scale for Adolescents (GADIS-A). It is the first screening instrument for problematic social media use built directly on the ICD-11 criteria for Gaming Disorder, rather than the DSM-5 Internet Gaming Disorder criteria used by older scales. It was validated in a representative German sample of 931 parent-adolescent pairs (adolescents aged 10-17), recruited through the market research institute forsa. The two-factor structure (cognitive-behavioral symptoms, negative consequences) showed good to excellent internal consistency and good criterion validity (associations with the Social Media Disorder Scale, the PHQ-9, and the Perceived Stress Scale).

Specifically, the validation study reports excellent internal consistency for the total score (Cronbach's alpha = .91) and moderate but statistically significant associations with depressive symptoms (PHQ-9: r = .48) and perceived stress (PSS-10: r = .43) -- a sign that problematic social media use goes along with, but isn't the same thing as, depression or stress. In the representative sample, 6.3% of adolescents met the criteria for problematic use under this instrument.

Dimensions

Cognitive-Behavioral Symptoms

Sum across items 1, 2, 4, and 5 (0-16 points). Cutoff per the original study: > 8.

Negative Consequences

Sum across items 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 (0-20 points). Cutoff per the original study: > 6.

Time Criterion

Value of the single timing item (0-3 points). Cutoff per the original study: >= 2.

Sources & license

Paschke, K., Austermann, M. I., & Thomasius, R. (2021). ICD-11-Based Assessment of Social Media Use Disorder in Adolescents: Development and Validation of the Social Media Use Disorder Scale for Adolescents. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 661483.
This article and its supplementary material are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and adaptation with attribution. Item wording is quoted verbatim from the official questionnaire published in the article's Supplementary Material. The cutoff values (cognitive-behavioral symptoms factor > 8 of 16, negative consequences factor > 6 of 20, time criterion >= 2 of 3) are taken directly from the study's own official scoring sheet.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.661483

This questionnaire is meant for adolescents themselves and is for self-reflection only. It does not constitute a clinical diagnosis or a child/adolescent psychiatric or psychological assessment. If you're concerned about your own or a child's/teenager's media use, it's also worth talking with someone you trust and, if needed, a child and adolescent mental health professional.

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