Thinking beyond cut-off scores in the assessment of potentially addictive behaviors: A brief illustration in the context of binge-watching

Abstract

While applying a diagnostic approach (i.e., comparing “clinical” cases with “healthy” controls) is part of our methodological habits as researchers and clinicians, this approach has been particularly criticized in the behavioral addictions research field, in which a lot of studies are conducted on “emerging” conditions. Here we exemplify the pitfalls of using a cut-off-based approach in the context of binge-watching (i.e., watching multiple episodes of series back-to-back) by demonstrating that no reliable cut-off scores could be determined with a widely used assessment instrument measuring binge-watching.

Mindfulness programs for problematic usage of the internet: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…We treated these self-reports as dimensional indicators of PUI rather than categorical distinctions between those affected by PUI and those who are not. This is important because the use of single cut-off scores in the (self-)assessment of addictive behaviors is controversial ( Billaux, Billieux, Baggio, Maurage, & Flayelle, 2023 ), and because there is a variety of self-report instruments for PUI, such as Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT; Young, 1998 ) or the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS; Andreassen et al., 2016 ), which are based on related but yet differing criteria. As a secondary outcome, we examined the effects of MPs on screen time, measured subjectively through self-reports or mechanically, for example, via Apps or screen shots of usage times.…”