Validation and Polish Adaptation of the Doomscrolling Scale
Rogowska AM, Marengo D, Chlebowska G
Chronic stress (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 0 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
Based on full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2026-06-01 · Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks) · vol. 10 · p. 24705470261462663
- Publisher
- SAGE Publishing
- Cited
- 0 citations · more than 53% of similar papers · 0.0× the field average
- References
- 51 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY-NC
- Research areas
- Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Consumer Retail Behavior Studies
- Keywords
- doomscrolling, scale validation, Polish adaptation, social media addiction, fear of missing out, mental health, distress, life satisfaction, smartphone use, addiction-like behavior, scale reliability and validity, cross-cultural adaptation of instruments, socioeconomic status, well-being, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, PHQ-4, Satisfaction with Life Scale
3 authors
From PL, IT
- Aleksandra Maria RogowskaUniversity of Opole
- Davide MarengoUniversity of Turin
- Gabriela ChlebowskaUniversity of Opole
Abstract
Introduction
Doomscrolling refers to a problematic pattern of compulsive engagement with negative or distressing news, particularly through social media, which may be difficult to interrupt despite its adverse emotional consequences, such as high distress and low well-being levels. However, more research is required to explain the link between doomscrolling and mental health in the context of other phenomena related to addiction-like behavior, such as problematic social media use (PSMU) and fear of missing out (FOMO). This study examines for assessing doomscrolling in the Polish cultural setting associations between doomscrolling, maladaptive media use and mental health dimensions.
Methods
The total sample of 585 adults aged 18 to 79 (M = 27.66, SD = 10.37), including 49% men, participated in the cross-sectional study. The sample was divided into Sample 1 (n = 291) and Sample 2 (n = 294) to examine structural validity using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively. The following tools were used to assess criterion validity: Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), Fear of Missing Out scale (FOMO), the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS).
Results
Both EFA and CFA revealed a one-factor structure for the DS-15, with a single factor explaining 65% of the variance in doomscrolling. Reliability of the DS-15 was 0.96 for Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω, in both samples, and an adequate fit to the data in Sample 2, including χ2/df = 2.44, SRMR = 0.042, RMSEA = 0.070 (95% CI = 0.029; 0.112), and CFI = 0.964. Although EFA yielded a one-factor solution for the brief 4-item version of the scale (DS-4), the fit indices were unacceptable in CFA. Doomscrolling, assessed by the DS-15, was negatively related to life satisfaction and positively related to daily smartphone and social media use, PSMU, FOMO, distress symptoms, and self-rated socioeconomic status. No relationships were found between doomscrolling and age, gender, and education levels.
Conclusions
The unidimensional DS-15 is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing doomscrolling in Polish-language samples. It is not recommended to use the short version of the Doomscrolling Scale.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC).
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