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Analyzing Models of Work Addiction: Single Factor and Bi-Factor Models of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale

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Abstract

Work addiction (‘workaholism’) has become an increasingly studied topic in the behavioral addictions literature and had led to the development of a number of instruments to assess it. One such instrument is the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS - Andreassen et al. 2012 Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 53, 265-272). However, the BWAS has never been investigated in Eastern-European countries. The goal of the present study was to examine the factor structure, the reliability and cut-off scores of the BWAS in a comprehensive Hungarian sample. This study is a direct extension of the original validation of BWAS by providing results on the basis of representative data and the development of appropriate cut-off scores. The study utilized an online questionnaire with a Hungarian representative sample including 500 respondents (F = 251; Mage = 35.05 years) who completed the BWAS. A series of confirmatory factor analyses were carried out leading to a short, 7-item first-order factor structure and a longer 14-item seven-factor nested structure. Despite the good validity of the longer version, its reliability was not as high as it could have been. One-fifth (20.6 %) of the Hungarians who used the internet at least weekly were categorized as work addicts using the BWAS. It is recommended that researchers use the original seven items from the Norwegian scale in order to facilitate and stimulate cross-national research on addiction to work.

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Acknowledgments

Present work was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (Grant numbers: PD106027, PD 116686, K83884 and K111938). Zsolt Demetrovics acknowledges financial support of the János Bolyai Research Fellowship awarded by the Hungarian Academy of Science.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Izabella utca 46, Budapest, H-1064, Hungary

    Gábor Orosz & Zsolt Demetrovics

  2. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, MTA Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Gábor Orosz

  3. Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, Department of Applied Pedagogy and Psychology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

    Edina Dombi

  4. Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Cecile Schou Andreassen

  5. The Bergen Clinics Foundation, Bergen, Norway

    Cecile Schou Andreassen

  6. Psychology Division, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Mark D. Griffiths

Authors
  1. Gábor Orosz
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  2. Edina Dombi
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  3. Cecile Schou Andreassen
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  4. Mark D. Griffiths
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  5. Zsolt Demetrovics
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gábor Orosz.

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Conflict of Interest

No conflict of interest. Author G. Orosz, author E. Dombi, author C. S. Andreassen, author M.D. Griffiths, and author Zs. Demetrovics declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Appendix The Hungarian Bergen Work Addiction Scale

Appendix The Hungarian Bergen Work Addiction Scale

Bergen Munkafüggőség Skála

Az alábbiakban 14 kérdést teszünk fel Önnek a munkájához való viszonyával kapcsolatban. A kérdések mellett X-szel jelölje meg az Önre leginkább jellemző választ (”soha” –”mindig”).

Az elmúlt évben milyen gyakran....

  

Soha

Ritkán

Néha

Gyakran

Mindig

Kitűnés – Salience

1.

gondolt a munkájára vagy egyéb megtervezett munkafolyamatokra?

     

2.*

gondolkodott azon, hogyan tudna még több időt a munkájának szentelni?

     

Tolerancia - Tolerance

3.*

dolgozott többet, mint amennyit valójában eltervezett?

     

4.

érzett késztetést arra, hogy egyre többet és többet dolgozzon?

     

Hangulatváltozás – Mood modification

5.

dolgozott azért, hogy elfelejtse szemelyes problémáit?

     

6.*

dolgozott azért, hogy csökkentse a bűntudatát, szorongását, kilátástalanságát vagy depresszióját?

     

Visszaesés - Relapse

7.*

tapasztalta azt, hogy mások arra utasították, hogy kevesebbet dolgozzon, de Ön nem hallgatott rájuk?

     

8.

próbálta meg lecsökkenteni a munkával töltött idejét siker nélkül?

     

Elvonás - Withdrawal

9.

lett nyugtalan vagy ideges amikor akadályozták a munkavégzésében?

     

10.*

érzett stresszt, amikor megakadályozták a munkavégzésében?

     

Konfliktus - Conflict

11.*

helyezte háttérbe hobbijait, szabadiős tevékenységét vagy edzését a munkája miatt?

     

12.

hanyagolta el partnerét, családtagjait vagy barátait munkája miatt?

     

Problémák - Problems

13.*

érezte azt, hogy a sok munka az egészsége rovására megy?

     

14.

dolgozott olyan sokat, hogy ez negatív hatással volt az alvására?

     
  1. Evaluation: (1) soha, (2) ritkán, (3) néha, (4) gyakran, (5) mindig
  2. *The Norwegian Item set
  3. Italics – the Hungarian 7-item first-order version
  4. The original version of the scale can be found in Andreassen, C. S., Griffiths, M. D., Hetland, J. & Pallesen, S. (2012). Development of a work addiction scale. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 53, 265–272
  5. ©All rights reserved to Cecile Andreassen
  6. The Hungarian BWAS can be used freely for research purposes only

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Orosz, G., Dombi, E., Andreassen, C.S. et al. Analyzing Models of Work Addiction: Single Factor and Bi-Factor Models of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale. Int J Ment Health Addiction 14, 662–671 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-015-9613-7

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