The Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGD-20 Test)

Sep 14, 2024·
Dr. Halley Pontes
Dr. Halley Pontes
· 2 min read

The IGD-20 Test (Pontes et al., 2014) was the first standardized psychometric tool to assess Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) according to the nine Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) criteria as suggested by the American Psychiatric Association in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

The IGD-20 Test was developed in a heterogeneous sample of 1.003 English-speaking gamers (85.2% males; mean age 26 years). The IGD-20 Test has a total of 20 items and conceptualizes disordered gaming according to the six first-order latent domains (i.e., components) well-established in behavioral addictions: ‘Salience‘, ‘Mood Modification‘, ‘Tolerance‘, and ‘Withdrawal Symptoms‘, ‘Conflict’, and ‘Relapse‘ (see Griffiths, 2005).

The IGD-20 Test had its psychometric properties extensively investigated and multiple studies have provided satisfactory results at several levels, such as:

  • (i) Construct validity (i.e., factorial, convergent); (ii) criterion-related validity; (iii) concurrent validity, (iv) cross-cultural validity. The IGD-20 Test has also been shown to be reliable according to several indicators of internal consistency [all information about the validity of the scale can be found in the original (study)

The IGD-20 Test has been widely used in research on disordered gaming and several cross-cultural psychometric studies were conducted to validate the test in other languages. Languages in which the test has been developed so far include:

If you know of any other existing validation study and/or if you wish to further develop and validate the IGD-20 Test in another language, please do get in touch with me via email.