Research Article

Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study

Number: 1 January 14, 2026

Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

The study focused on examining the validity and reliability of the ‘Digital Intelligence Child Scale.’ The general screening model was used to test the validity and reliability of the scales organized as “Digital Intelligence Level 1 Child Scale” for illiterate children and “Digital Intelligence Level 2 Child Scale” for literate children. The sample of the study consisted of parents of 979 children aged 4-5 with typical development and 6-8 who were literate and attending kindergartens/preschools and primary schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in the city center of Ankara during the spring term of the 2021–2022 academic year and the autumn term of the 2022–2023 academic year. Following the analyses related to scope and validity, two scales were derived: the ‘Digital Intelligence Level 1 Children’s Scale’ with 29 items and 4 subdimensions, and the ‘Digital Intelligence Level 2 Children’s Scale’ with 44 items and 7 subdimensions. The four-factor structure identified for the Digital Intelligence Level 1 Children’s Scale accounted for 66.83% of the total variance, while the seven-factor structure determined for the Digital Intelligence Level 2 Children’s Scale explained 71.46% of the total variance. According to the confirmatory factor analysis, the CFI value was found to be 0.97 and the NFI value was found to be 0.93 for the Digital Intelligence Level 1 Children's Scale, while the CFI value was found to be 0.98 and the NFI value was found to be 0.97 in the Digital Intelligence Level 2 Children's Scale. To assess the reliability of the scales, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated and found to be 0.94 for the Digital Intelligence Level 1 Children’s Scale and 0.96 for the Digital Intelligence Level 2 Children’s Scale. Accordingly, the 'Digital Intelligence Level 1 Child Scale' and the 'Digital Intelligence Level 2 Child Scale' were concluded to be both valid and reliable.

Keywords

Digital Intelligence, Early Childhood, Validity and Reliability, Digital Competence, Scale Development

References

  1. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011). Media use by children younger than 2 years. Pediatrics, 128, 1040–1045. https://doi.org/ 10.1542/ peds.2011-1753.
  2. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2013). Children, adolescents, and the media. Pediatrics, 132, 958–961. Ateş EC, Saluk A. (2018) Bilişim suçları kapsamında suça sürüklenen çocukların incelenmesi. HUMANITAS Uluslararası Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 2018;6(12):154-176.
  3. Bremer, J. (2005). The internet and children: advantages and disadvantages. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics, 14(3), 405-428.
  4. Byrne BM. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. New York: Routledge
  5. Burns, T. and F. Gottschalk (2020), Education in the Digital Age: Healthy and Happy Children, https://www.oecd.org/education/education-in-the-digital-age-1209166a-en.htm.
  6. Büyüköztürk, Ş., Kılıç Çakmak, E., Akgün, Ö.E., Karadeniz, Ş., & Demirel, F. (2012). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri. Ankara: Pegem.
  7. Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2016). Sosyal bilimler için veri analizi el kitabı. Ankara: Pegem
  8. Common Sense (2017), The Commonsense Census: Media Use by Kids Age Zero to Eight,https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/csm_zerotoeight_fullr eport_release_2.pdf.
  9. Communications, C. O. (2016). Media use in school-aged children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 138(5), e20162592.
  10. Costello, A. B., & Osborne, J. W. (2005). Exploratory Factor Analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 10(7), 1-9.
APA
Ünal, M., & Kandır, A. (2026). Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study. Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age, 1, 70-83. https://doi.org/10.53850/joltida.1721756
AMA
1.Ünal M, Kandır A. Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study. JOLTIDA. 2026;(1):70-83. doi:10.53850/joltida.1721756
Chicago
Ünal, Mahmut, and Adalet Kandır. 2026. “Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study”. Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age, no. 1: 70-83. https://doi.org/10.53850/joltida.1721756.
EndNote
Ünal M, Kandır A (January 1, 2026) Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study. Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age 1 70–83.
IEEE
[1]M. Ünal and A. Kandır, “Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study”, JOLTIDA, no. 1, pp. 70–83, Jan. 2026, doi: 10.53850/joltida.1721756.
ISNAD
Ünal, Mahmut - Kandır, Adalet. “Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study”. Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age. 1 (January 1, 2026): 70-83. https://doi.org/10.53850/joltida.1721756.
JAMA
1.Ünal M, Kandır A. Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study. JOLTIDA. 2026;:70–83.
MLA
Ünal, Mahmut, and Adalet Kandır. “Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study”. Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age, no. 1, Jan. 2026, pp. 70-83, doi:10.53850/joltida.1721756.
Vancouver
1.Mahmut Ünal, Adalet Kandır. Digital Intelligence Child Scale Validity and Reliability Study. JOLTIDA. 2026 Jan. 1;(1):70-83. doi:10.53850/joltida.1721756