Prevalence, sociodemographic factors and psychological distress related to compulsive buying online

Abstract

Introduction Since that the online commerce provides an important shopping environment, it has been argued that traditional buying-shopping disorder may migrate into the online market. Objectives The aims of the current study were to investigate the prevalence of online buying-shopping disorder, and to determine sociodemographic and psychological factors related to this addictive behavior. Methods A cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study was conducted among subjects who had already made at least one online shopping. Data was collected using a self-questionnaire published by GOOGLE FORMS. Assessment included the short version of the Internet Addiction Test modified for online shopping sites (s-IATshop). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) has been used to assess anxiety and depression. Results A total of 137 participants aged 34.62 ± 9.82 years completed the online questionnaire. Only 4 (2.9%) participants had a probable compulsive buying shopping on line. The HADS-A score ranged from 0 to 14, with a mean of 6.85 +/- 3.49 and almost half of the participants (44.5%; N=61) had anxiety symptoms. A high s-IAT shopping score was correlated with secondary or university education (p=0.046). We also found that women, who were younger and had higher incomes, had the highest scores on the s-IAT-shopping scale, without however confirming statistical significance. Conclusions Our study has shown the potential vulnerability factors for compulsive online shopping disorder. Thus, this behaviour deserves to be taken into account in behavioural addictions. Disclosure of Interest None Declared