Development of Fırat Netlessphobia Scale and investigation of its psychometric properties

Purpose: The present study aimed to determine the level of Netlessphobia in the general population by developing the “Fırat Netlessphobia Scale.”. Design and Measures: Trial form consisting of 19 items, which was tested in terms of language and psychometric validity, was applied to a sample group of 690 people. The reliability of the scale was verified by evaluating Cronbach's α reliability coefficient and test-retest consistency. Results: The developed “Fırat Netlessphobia Scale” can account for 60.7% of the variance related to Netlessphobia. Cronbach's α reliability coefficient of the scale was calculated as 0.93. Conclusions: According to the findings, the Fırat Netlessphobia Scale is a cost-effective scale that facilitates the valid and reliable estimation of high variance and a low number of items. Practice Implications: This practical and cost-effective scale is widely applied owing to its small number of items and short expressions. The present study emphasizes the importance of exploring Netlessphobia and the need for future research in this area to recognize the risk groups and establish protection strategies. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.