Compulsive Internet Use Scale - CIUS

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Created: January 02, 2021

Last Modified: January 03, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) by Meerkert et al (2009).

References

Meerkerk, G.J., Van Den Eijnden, R.J., Vermulst, A.A., & Garretsen, H.F. (2009). The Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS): some psychometric properties. Cyberpsychol Behav, 12(1), 1-6. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2008.0181. PMID: 19072079.

Duration

1 minute

Description

14 5-point Likert scale items to cover 5 core elements of compulsive internet use: Items 1, 2, 5, and 9 covers loss of control Items 3, 8, 10, and 11 covering conflict Items 4, 6, and 7 covers preoccupation Items 12 and 13 cover coping Item 14 covers withdrawal symptoms

Summary Data

File Name: cius_summary.iqdat' (Inquisit Lab: one data file per participant)

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
computer.touch 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities
computer.hasKeyboard 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
ciusTotalScore The sum of all 14 individual responses (on scale from 0-4)
Range: 0 - 56

Raw Data

File Name: cius.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject Participant ID
group Group number
session Session number
build Inquisit version number
q*_response Response given (in assigned values)
Scale: never (0) - very often (4)
q*_latency How much time (in ms) the participant spent on the surveyPage with this particular
question (the last time this particular surveyPage was visited)