International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (2024) 22:1515–1529

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00940-9

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Technology‑Enhanced Learning and Well‑being:

a Contribution to the Validation of a Measure to Assess
University Students’ Technostress in the Italian Context

Giovanni Schettino1 · Leda Marino1 · Vincenza Capone1

Accepted: 13 October 2022 / Published online: 2 November 2022

© The Author(s) 2022

Abstract
COVID-19 has forced many universities to adopt widely technology-enhanced learning
(TEL), highlighting the role of technostress as a risk factor for detrimental outcomes that
may be prevented through the assessment with reliable tools. Thus, the present study aimed
to test the psychometric characteristics of the Italian validation of the technostress scale by
Wang, Tan, and Li. A self-report online questionnaire was completed by 915 participants
(aged 18–33 years) attending an online university course during the health emergency. A
subsample of 301 subjects (MAge = 20.91, SD = 1.93) filled out the same questionnaire after
a 3-month time interval to evaluate the test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis
verified the one-factor structure of the scale, which was confirmed across academic courses
considered (first-year and senior students). Moreover, the findings showed significant asso-
ciations with the Italian Technostress Creators Scale and the Italian Mental Health Contin-
uum–Short Form, as well as a satisfactory test–retest coefficient value supporting its valid-
ity and reliability. In light of the above, the study provides a useful instrument to evaluate
technostress related to TEL and indications to implement preventive interventions for this
type of stress by improving students’ experience with learning technologies.

Keywords Technostress · Students · Well-being · Technology-enhanced learning · Scale

validation

Technostress was firstly described by Brod (1984) as an adaptive disease caused by the
inability to deal with new computer technologies effectively and healthily. More specifi-
cally, technostress can be defined as “any negative effect on human attitudes, thoughts,
behaviors, or body physiology that is caused directly or indirectly by technology” (Weil

* Vincenza Capone
[email protected]
Giovanni Schettino
[email protected]
Leda Marino
[email protected]
1
Department of Humanities, University of Naples, Federico II, Via Porta di Massa, 1,
80138 Naples, Italy

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1516 International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (2024) 22:1515–1529

& Rosen, 1997, p. 5). Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a pivotal
role in technostress development and its manifestations (La Torre et al., 2019), represent-
ing potential sources of apprehension and anxiety or techno-anxiety (Marcoulides, 1989),
which can result in techno-phobia (Rosen & Maguire, 1990), an aversion to computers
usage. Furthermore, the relationship with these technologies can manifest in the form of
extensive and compulsive usage or techno-addition (Tarafdar et al., 2020).
Moreover, technostress has been regarded as a type of stress (Salanova Soria, 2003)
associated with a negative psychological state due to the usage of ICTs. This state is
affected by the perception of a mismatch between demands and resources related to ICTs,
leading to unpleasant psychophysiological activation and negative attitudes toward them.
From the first description of technostress in the 1980s, literature on this disease has
increased by including the investigation of its association with the usage of different tech-
nologies such as mobile computing devices (Hung et al., 2015), collaborative tools (Jena,
2015), corporate management systems (Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008), and recently, social
media (Brooks & Califf, 2017) by expanding the literature concerning the impact of these
platforms on individuals’ well-being (Califano et al., 2022; Caso et al., 2020; Schettino
et al., 2022a). In this regard, a large number of studies (Joo et al., 2016; Ragu-Nathan et al.,
2008; Tarafdar et al., 2010) on technostress, across different fields, have documented sev-
eral negative consequences both for individuals and their organizations (González-López
et al., 2021). In particular, technostress has been identified as a strong predictor of anxiety,
diminished concentration, irritability, memory loss, sleep disturbances, relationship issues
with family, and malaise (Arnetz & Wiholm, 1997; Capone et al., 2021; Loh et al., 2021;
Porter & Kakabadse, 2006; Salo et al., 2019; Schettino et al., 2022b; Thomée et al., 2012).
At the organizational level, literature has widely recognized the role played by technostress
as a risk factor for dissatisfaction with job, organizational commitment, decreased produc-
tivity, job burnout, absenteeism, and even intentions to quit the job (La Torre et al., 2020;
Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008; Reinke et al., 2016; Tarafdar et al., 2007). In the educational
environment, such modern disease (Brod, 1984) has been identified as a factor leading to
concerns such as burnout, decreased learning engagement, and reduced performance (Jena,
2015; Wang et al., 2020). Among students, females and lower-grade individuals are more
susceptible to experiencing burnout associated with greater technostress levels (Upadhyaya
& Vrinda, 2021). Furthermore, such pressures among students are not only associated
with the simple use of technology, but specifically, with a change of requirements in many
aspects of learning (i.e., design and delivery of content, learning process features, and its
assessment) resulting from the mentioned usage (Jung et al., 2012).
Universities are among the major educational organizations where ICTs related to edu-
cation — or technology-enhanced learning (TEL) — are used widely to increase productiv-
ity and knowledge acquisition (Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008). In particular, technology helps
enhance various processes within higher education institutions as well as the teaching and
learning process (Bianchi & Caso, 2021).
The health emergency has significantly boosted technology adoption in most academic
contexts. TEL has passed from being complementary to a mandatory educational method-
ology (Gaebel et al., 2021; Longmuir et al., 2021). Indeed, there has been a sudden adop-
tion of distance learning by most universities worldwide, even in countries with low imple-
mentation rates of TEL in pre-pandemic times, such as Italy (European Commission, 2020;
Eurostat, 2020). This country has been the second-worst affected country by Coronavirus
after China during the initial spread of the virus, meaning that Italy was among the first
countries in Europe to experience remote learning for all schools and universities in March
2020 (Sebastiani & Palù, 2020).

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This switch from face-to-face to distance learning has allowed schools and universities
to continue their educational programs. Nevertheless, at the same time, such a teaching
mode has triggered the technostress process (Estrada-Muñoz et al., 2021; Galvin et al.,
2022).
Indeed, undergraduates have experienced increased technostress which, in turn, has
been identified as a risk factor for exhaustion (Alvarez-Risco et al., 2021), anxiety and
depressive symptoms (Galvin et al., 2022), poorer academic performances (Upadhyaya &
Vrinda, 2021), negative experiences regarding family life (González-López et al., 2021),
and decreased mental well-being (Schettino et al., 2022b). This sort of chain reaction may
be explained by taking into account the more demands — in terms of time, knowledge,
skills, and psychological pressures — of TEL than the traditional learning mode (Com-
modari & La Rosa, 2021). In this regard, Penado Abilleira et al. (2021) recognized the
person-environment (P-E) fit theory as an explanatory model of technostress among aca-
demic students. The scholars, using a sample of students from Spanish universities, have
adapted a 20-item technostress scale from Chinese teachers to Spanish students following
the P-E fit theory assumptions in order to provide a measure able to assess the prevalence
of the disease in the considered population.
With the same aim, Wang and colleagues (2020) have developed and validated a more
agile technostress measure consisting of 8 items specifically designed to assess university
students’ technostress in TEL. They tested the psychometric properties of their tool with a
sample of Chinese students from two public universities in China, demonstrating its valid-
ity as well as the fundamental contribution of P-E fit theory in understanding the develop-
ment and outcomes of stress in various contexts.
The core of the P-E fit theory was identified by Edwards (1996, p. 292) in “the premise
that attitudes, behaviors and other individual-level outcomes result not from the person or
environment separately, but rather from the relationship between the two.”
Consequently, a good fit can promote well-being and increase job satisfaction and per-
formance (Edwards & Rothbard, 1999; Gander et al., 2020; Gilbreath, 2004; Redelinghuys
& Botha, 2016).
If the relationships between individuals and their environments are unbalanced, ten-
sions could be generated, resulting in poor fits (Ayyagari et al., 2011; Edwards & Rothbard,
1999). Hence, stress occurs when there is no adjustment between the person and the envi-
ronment or, in other words, between the resources of the person and the demands of the
environment (Edwards et al., 1998). On the one hand, demands related to technostress can
be defined as quantitative and qualitative requirements of technology-enhanced learning
for individuals’ skills. On the other hand, supplies are different resources and opportunities
that TEL can offer to meet the needs of individuals.
Consistent with the P-E fit theory, in Wang et al.’s (2020) scale, the person factor
refers to university students, and the environment factor to technology-enhanced learning,
its requirements, courses, and tasks. In the development process of Wang et al.’s (2020)
instrument, the first-order 1-factor technostress scale with eight items was found to be psy-
chometrically robust, demonstrating high internal consistency, validity, unidimensionality,
and measurement invariance across participants of different demographics in China. Rapid
assessments are regarded as efficient methods for collecting information quickly and when
it is impossible to implement classical research methodologies as suggested in a pandemic.
Therefore, in light of the studies mentioned above, the aim of this research was two-fold:

– Validating the technostress questionnaire by Wang et al. (2020) among Italian univer-
sity students and corroborating its psychometric properties.

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– Determining whether the theoretical perspective of the P-E fit theory was suitable to
explain the prevalence of technostress and its association with well-being among Italian
university students.

Aims and Hypotheses

The current research aimed to evaluate the validity of the Italian Technostress Scale for
University Students in TEL (IT-TSUS) by investigating the psychometric properties (fac-
tor structure, reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity) and its invariance
across the courses of study (first year, students who had been enrolled at university for
less than a year; third year, students who had almost finished the first round of the course).
A further aim was to expand the evidence about the tool by examining the relationships
between IT-TSUS and some criterion variables such as emotional, social, and psychologi-
cal well-being.
Consequently, we formulated the following hypotheses.

Hypothesis 1a (H1a). We expected to confirm the one-factor structure of IT-TSUS as

found in Wang and colleagues’ tool.
Hypothesis 1b (H1b). We hypothesized that the IT-TSUS had high internal reliability,
similar to earlier findings in the Chinese sample.
Hypothesis 2a (H2a). We hypothesized that our study confirmed the convergent validity
of the IT-TSUS correlating positively with corresponding measures. Thus, we expected
the IT-TSUS to correlate positively with technostress at work.
Hypothesis 2b (H2b). Considering divergent validity, we expected that IT-TSUS cor-
related negatively with mental well-being.
Hypothesis 3 (H3a). We expected an adequate test–retest reliability of the IT-TSUS.
Hypothesis 4 (H4). Referring to group invariance, we hypothesized that the functioning
of the IT-TSUS items did not differ across academic courses (first-year students of psy-
chology course and senior group, in the third year of psychology course).

Material and Methods

Translation Process

The IT-TSUS was back-translated to ensure translation equivalency. Psychometric testing

of the P-E fit scale of technostress for university students in technology-enhanced learning
with an Italian sample was then conducted. Two bilingual Ph.D. researchers participated in
the translation process. One of the researchers, who translated the original tool into Italian,
had gotten a Ph.D. in Health Psychology in Italy. The second translator had been educated
in the United States and had a Ph.D. in Psychology. He translated the Italian TSUS back to
English without discussion with the first researcher. Subsequently, adjustments were per-
formed in order to ensure understandability, psychological equivalence, and the accuracy
of the translation from English into Italian. As a result, the original and back-translated
English versions did not differ significantly, as posited by the translators. Lastly, on the
basis of feedback from six university students, the wording and clarity of the description of
the scale items were improved.

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Procedure and Statistical Analyses

We used a cross-sectional design to validate the IT-TSUS. Participants were recruited

among psychology students attending an online course at the University of Naples Fed-
erico II in March 2021. They were invited to complete an online self-report question-
naire about their experience with technology-enhanced learning. Research participation
was voluntary, and respondents received no reward. Moreover, it was subjected to the
privacy information and consent to process personal data following the applicable law.
No outliers were identified, and no missing values were found since all the answers
were mandatory.
Bartlett’s test of sphericity and the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling
adequacy were used to test whether the dataset was suitable for factor analysis. In order to
analyze the reliability of the scale, we computed the internal consistency using Cronbach’s
alpha. Furthermore, for the analysis of the scale internal consistency, the corrected correla-
tions between the score of the items and the IT-TSUS, as well as test-rest reliability, were
analyzed.
As recommended by researchers in the field (Byrne et al., 1989), the following steps
were taken to test factor invariance. Preliminary confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)
was performed using the maximum likelihood estimation method to analyze the under-
lying structure of items. To evaluate the solution, we took into account the goodness of
fit indexes. Thus, the chi-square (χ2) was computed to examine the difference between
observed and expected covariance matrices by testing the null hypothesis of ideal model
fit where the residual covariance equals zero. We also considered adequate comparative fit
index (CFI) and the Tucker–Lewis’s index (TLI) values above 0.90 (Bentler, 2006; Byrne
et al., 1989), root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) values below or equal to
0.06, and root-mean-square residual (RMSR) values equal to or below 0.09 (Hu & Bentler,
1999). Furthermore, the Pearson product-moment correlations were computed to exam-
ine the relations between the measures. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05.
This CFA was performed separately for the first-year and senior students groups to assess
whether the model fitted the data well in each group. Then, multi-group CFA was con-
ducted in order to test configural (Thurstone, 1947) and metric invariance (Millsap & Oli-
vera-Aguilar, 2015).

Participants

The sample consisted of 915 Italian students (83.9% women) aged 18–33 years (M = 20.81;
SD = 1.98). Of the respondents, 40% (N = 366) attended the first year of a psychology
degree, whereas 60% (N = 549) attended the last year of the course. The most were unem-
ployed (83.6%; N = 765), 485 (53%) were single, and 430 (47%) were engaged. About par-
ticipants’ experience with TEL, 83.7% (N = 766) had a place in their houses only for it, and
most (41.2%; N = 377) reported there was one other person besides them who used TEL
or worked in smart mode in their houses, 189 (20.7%) answered two people, 167 (18.2%)
declared more than two people using online learning or working, while 182 (19.9%)
respondents indicated they were the only ones in their families. Lastly, in order to assess
the test–retest validity, a subsample consisting of 301 students (MAge = 20.91, SD = 1.93;
84% female) completed the questionnaire again after three months. Ethical approval for the
current study had been obtained from the Department of Humanities Ethical Committee of

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Psychological Research prior to the commencement of this project. All participants pro-
vided informed consent.

Measures

The Italian version of TSUS (IT-TSUS): The tool consists of 8 closed questions (e.g., “I
feel stressed to adapt to technology-enhanced learning”) assessing university students’
technostress. Response alternatives are provided on a 5-point Likert-type scale from 0
(“strongly disagree”) to 4 (“strongly agree”). In this study, α = 0.95.
Measure for convergent validity. The technostress creators scale (TCS; Molino et al.,
2020; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008) is an 11-item Likert scale that measures workers’ technos-
tress. The instrument consists of three factors: techno-overload (4 items, e.g., “I am forced
by technology to work much faster”; α = 0.82), techno-invasion (3 items, e.g., “I spend less
time with my family due to technology”; α = 0.71), and techno-complexity (4 items, e.g., “I
do not know enough about technology to handle my job satisfactorily”; α = 0.89). Answers
are ranged on a 5-point Likert scale from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5).
Cronbach’s alpha for The Technostress Creators scale was 0.85.
Measures for divergent validity. The Italian Mental Health Continuum Short Form
(MHC-SF; Petrillo et al., 2015) consists of 14 statements measuring psychosocial well-
being as described in Keyes’ model (Keyes, 2002). It is a scale assessing emotional (e.g.,
“During the past month, how often did you feel satisfied with life”; α = 0.86), social
(e.g., “During the past month, how often did you feel that you belonged to community”;
α = 0.79), and psychological well-being (e.g., “During the past month, how often did you
feel that you have experiences that challenge you to grow and become a better person”;
α = 0.85). The MHC–SF asks individuals how much of the time they functioned in a spe-
cific manner, from 0 (“none of the time”) to 5 (“all of the time”). MHC-SF reported a
Cronbach’s alpha of 0.91.
Demographic data. Participants were asked to specify their age, gender, nationality,
marital status, and employment status.

Results

Descriptive Statistics and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Descriptive analyses, Pearson’s correlation, and computation of Cronbach’s alpha coeffi-

cients were performed using SPSS 27 statistical software (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).
In addition, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out through the support of
Mplus 8.6 (Muthén & Muthén, Los Angeles, CA, USA). Descriptive statistics for the IT-
TSUS and the other psychological variables assessed are presented in Tables 1 and 2.
Analysis of the IT-TSUS individual items indicated that item scores were not skewed,
with none of them showing extreme means and close to zero variances. The average score
obtained in the IT-TSUS was 2.36, SD = 1.06 (Table 3). In order to test the internal con-
sistency of the IT-TSUS, each item score was correlated with the total score of the scale.
Statistically significant part-whole correlations were reported. The coefficient range was
between 0.79 and 0.86 (Fig. 1). Since they were greater than 0.30, the internal consist-
ency of the IT-TSUS can be considered good (Nunnally, 1994). Furthermore, CFA was
performed to ascertain the factor structure of the scale.

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 Table 1  Descriptive statistics of items of IT-TSUS (N = 915). In brackets, the original English items are reported
Item Mean SD Skewness Kurtosis

ITEM 1 Adattarmi alla didattica a distanza mi fa sentire sotto pressione [I feel stressed to adapt to technology- 2.45 1.26 .05 − .67
enhanced learning]
ITEM 2 Ho difficoltà a seguire in maniera efficace la didattica a distanza perché ho poco tempo e risorse [I find it dif- 2.17 1.24 .29 − .55
ficult to effectively use technology-enhanced learning due to my limited investment of time and effort]
ITEM 3 Mi sento stressato/a dalle elevate richieste della didattica a distanza alle quali non riesco a far fronte con le 2.32 1.24 .22 − .63
mie attuali capacità [I feel stressed to cope with the high demands of technology-enhanced learning with
my current capability]
ITEM 4 Mi vedo costretto/a cambiare le mie abitudini e scelte di apprendimento per adeguarmi alle richieste della 2.74 1.22 − .30 − .50
didattica a distanza [I am pressured to change my current learning habit and preference to meet the require-
ments of technology-enhanced learning]
ITEM 5 La didattica a distanza invade diffusamente ogni aspetto della mia formazione, creandomi disagio [I am not 2.15 1.22 .32 − .49
comfortable with the pervasive invasion of technology-enhanced learning in all aspects of my study]
ITEM 6 Sono infastidito/a dalle varie forme della didattica a distanza [I am irritated by the vast variety of technology- 2.17 1.22 .22 − .57
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enhanced learning]
ITEM 7 Mi stressano le varie forme di didattica a distanza, perché rendono più difficile il mio studio [I feel stressed as 2.32 1.26 .16 − .68
the various forms of technology-enhanced learning complicate my study]
ITEM 8 Mi sento stressato/a perché la diffusione della didattica a distanza ha portato disordine nelle mie abitudini 2.52 1.30 − .03 − .74
di studio [I feel stressed as the heavy reliance on technology-enhanced learning in my school disrupts my
normal study pattern]
1521

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Table 2  Bivariate correlations with validation measures (N = 915)
M (SD) IT-TSUS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

IT-TSUS 2,355 (1.058)

1. MHC-SF 2,379 (.884) − .184**
2. MHC-SF—Emotional well-being 2.646 (1.099) − .216** .843**
3. MHC-SF—Social well-being 1.585 (.956) − .095** .834** .591**
4. MHC-SF—Psychological well-being 2.908 (1.028) − .179** .909** .698** .581**
5. TCS 2.129 (.872) .638** − .170** − .175** − .091** − .177**
6. TCS—Techno-overload 3.051 (.867) .575** − .141** − .138** − .087** − .141** .804**
7. TCS—Techno-invasion 3.207 (.943) .533** − .102** − .118** − .075* − .083* .781** .548**
8. TCS—Techno-complexity 2.129 (.872) .371** − .143** − .144** − .047 − .174** .722** .293** .327**

Note. *p < .05; **p < .01

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Fig. 1  Structure of IT-TSUS. Standardized coefficients

Bartlett’s sphericity test was equal to χ2 (df = 28, N = 915) = 6077.632 (p < 0.001), and
the KMO index was 0.94, indicating an adequate correlation matrix. The computation of
skewness and kurtosis indices (Table 1) showed the normality of the distribution. Kurtosis
ranged between − 0.74 (item 8) and − 0.49 (item 5); skewness ranged between − 0.30 (item
4) and 0.29 (item 2). Similar to the findings reported by Wang, Tang, and Li (2020), who
identified a one-factor structure, one factor with eigenvalues greater than one emerged in
our study.
The one-factor model fitted the data best. The fit statistics for the model were as fol-
lows: χ2 = 59.699 (33, N = 915), exact p = 0.02; CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.094; RMSEA = 0.081;
90% confidence interval for RMSEA = 0.049, 0.08; SRMR was 0.025. Standardized factor
loadings of items ranged from 0.79 to 0.86 (see the Appendix). The single factor explained
72.23% of the variance. All residual correlations were lower than |.1|. Finally, the scale
reported good internal reliability. The Cronbach’s alpha of the Italian TSUS was 0.94.

Convergent and Divergent Validity

A significant positive correlation between IT-TSUS scores and those on the technostress
creators scale (r = 0.64, p < 0.01) confirmed the convergent validity of the scale. More
specifically, a high and positive correlation was reported with the overload dimension
(r = 0.58, p < 0.01) and invasion dimension (r = 0.53, p < 0.01) of the TCS. In addition, the
IT-TSUS correlated negatively with the MHC-SF (r =  − 0.18, p < 0.01) and its dimensions.

Crossover Path Analysis (Test–Retest)

To examine the stability of the scale, we performed a crossover path analysis of the IT-
TSUS later in time, considering a reduced sample (N = 301). We correlated the time points
March 2021 (t0) and June 2021 (t1). Findings demonstrated that the initial results predicted
those at the follow-up (r = 0.71; p = 0.01). Besides, the intraclass correlation coefficient

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(ICC) for IT-TSUS was 0.64 (p < 0.0), suggesting good reliability of the scale (Shrout &
Fleiss, 1979).

Testing for Factor Invariance

Some procedures were accomplished to test the factorial invariance of the 8-item ver-
sion of the IT-TSUS. Firstly, we performed a preliminary confirmatory factor analy-
sis, in which the single factor was posited separately for first-year students and senior
groups. The model taken into account fitted the data well in each group: first-year stu-
dents: χ2 = 91.114 (39), p < 0.001; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.93; RMSEA = 0.07 (0.062 0.088);
SRMR = 0.025; senior: χ2 = 77.516 (39), p < 0.001; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.93; RMSEA = 0.07
(0.056 0.075); SRMR = 0.034. Multigroup CFA was subsequently conducted to examine
configural invariance (Thurstone, 1947). The model fitted the data well: χ2 = 210.470 (86),
0.000; CFI = 0.943; TLI = 0.932; RMSEA = 0.07 (0.72 0.85); SRMR = 0.048. Standardized
factor loadings of items were all significant. Coefficients ranged from 0.75 to 0.90 in the
first-year group and from 0.71 to 0.91 in the senior group. Finally, we investigated metric
invariance and found this model to be tenable: χ2 = 210.589 (130), p < 0.001; CFI = 0.932;
TLI = 0.930, RMSEA = 0.07 (0.075 0.089); SRMR = 0.040. Thus, we compared Model
0 with a model that was the same, except all latent means were fixed to be equal across
groups. A non-significant drop in model fit was observed, indicating that latent mean dif-
ferences did not exist between gender groups (Δ CFI =  − 0.001, p = 0.40).

Discussion

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted any aspect of our lives. In an effort to control the
spread of the virus, worldwide governments have imposed restrictive measures. Luck-
ily, the negative consequences of this pandemic have been partially reduced by technol-
ogy which has allowed individuals to shift from offline to online several human activities
such as meeting, entertaining, working, and learning. In the high school sector, universi-
ties have continued their activities through TEL. This challenge has been difficult to deal
with, particularly for those countries unprepared for online learning, such as Italy (Euro-
pean Commission, 2020; Preply, 2021). Due to the health emergency, Italian students have
been among the first to face a sudden shift from face-to-face learning to distance learning
(Sebastiani & Palù, 2020). In such a situation, the risk of suffering from technostress is
high. Therefore, it is evident that context-sensitive tools should be used for adequate iden-
tification of TEL psychological indicators. Following this line of reasoning, the present
study aimed to validate the Italian version of the technostress scale for university students
in TEL (Wang et al., 2020) in order to develop a brief and valid assessment measure of
technostress.
The findings were very satisfactory, supporting all hypotheses made. Indeed, the
IT-TSUS showed psychometric properties similar to the original Chinese version. The
CFA highlighted the one-factor dimension (H1a) similarly to the measure of Wang
and colleagues (2020). Moreover, the scale reported good reliability (H1b), conver-
gent validity (H2a), discriminant validity (H2b), and stability over time (H3). Fur-
thermore, the invariance calculation suggests that the scale could be used both among
university students at the beginning of their academic careers and students about
to graduate (H4). Starting from above, the IT-TSUS can be regarded as a suitable

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and agile instrument for evaluating students’ stress related to TEL. In addition, the
results highlighted above-average levels of technostress among the university stu-
dents enrolled in the research. Given their age (Mage = 20.81), they can be regarded
as Digital Natives (Prensky, 2001; Rothman, 2016) because they have been growing
up through immersion in digital technology (Thompson, 2013). As a result, they are
habituated to quick and autonomous access to information, multitasking, nonlinear
learning, and dynamic graphics (Brooks & Davis, 2018, Thompson, 2013). How-
ever, these digital skills have not protected them from technostress related to distance
learning. Specifically, our findings suggest that technostress may have been a risk fac-
tor for these Italian Digital Natives’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The
participants who reported higher stress about remote learning were those who expe-
rienced decreased mental well-being. The P-E fit theory (Edwards, 1996) could offer
a possible explanation for this result, suggesting that such students have felt unable
to deal with changes related to the quick adoption of distance learning, perceiving a
stress condition. Moreover, the theoretical framework indicates that determinants of
this perception should be found in both students and their universities. Thus, it seems
they did not have adequate individual resources for this challenge, and their university
did not make a proper valuation of the student’s capability to cope effectively with
TEL.
The findings of this study should be interpreted cautiously and considered in the
context of some limitations which can be addressed in future research. More in detail,
the study was conducted during a pandemic crisis, so its results could be influenced
by factors associated with a period of special stress among students and academic
organizations (Galvin et al., 2022; Procentese et al., 2020), unprepared to deal with
the unprecedented situation. Besides, participants were recruited from the first and
third years of a specific degree, making it difficult to generalize the results obtained
to the more general academic population. Finally, since we adopted a self-report ques-
tionnaire, it is possible that data could be affected by the common method invariance
issue. Therefore, future studies should take a longitudinal approach to test the scale
reliably over time. In particular, the tool should be tested once the health emergency
situation will have been overcome.
Despite the limitations mentioned above, the good psychometric properties of
the scale suggest a wide use of the instrument for timely identification of students
at higher risk of developing technostress and negative consequences related to this
modern disease. Moreover, the study supports the P-E fit theory ability to investi-
gate students’ technostress. As far as we know, our research is the first one to adopt
such a theoretical framework in the Italian context to examine university students’
technostress caused by distance learning adoption. Based on the strong psychomet-
ric properties of the scale, we recommend extensive use of the IT-TSUS in research
with students and health interventions. Furthermore, the scale should also be tested
and validated in languages other than Italian for usage across cultures. Universities
and public organizations around the globe should pay closer attention to the role of
technostress at the individual level in more effectively managing policies and inter-
ventions. For this purpose, we believe the IT-SUS proved to be a tool able to provide
useful information in designing online learning contexts which can improve students’
well-being. Specifically, such interventions should enhance students’ resources, for
example, their technological skills, to make them more effective in coping with TEL-
related demands and preserving their mental health.

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1526 International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (2024) 22:1515–1529

Appendix Table 3

Table 3  Loading of the items of Factor loading Item-total corr. α if deleted

IT-TSUS, corrected correlations, correlation
and items reliability (N = 915)
ITEM 1 .838 .81 .937
ITEM 2 .786 .76 .940
ITEM 3 .811 .79 .938
ITEM 4 .793 .77 .940
ITEM 5 .863 .83 .935
ITEM 6 .807 .78 .939
ITEM 7 .857 .83 .936
ITEM 8 .853 .83 .936

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Xinghua Wang and his colleagues for the consent to
validate their scale among Italian students.

Author Contribution All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data
collection, and analysis were performed by Giovanni Schettino, Leda Marino, and Vincenza Capone. The
first draft of the manuscript was written by Giovanni Schettino and Vincenza Capone, and all authors com-
mented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding Open access funding provided by Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II within the CRUI-
CARE Agreement.

Declarations
Ethical Approval All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible
committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975,
as revised in 2000.

Informed Consent Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

Conflict of Interest The authors declare no competing interests.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Com-
mons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article
are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly
from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://​creat​iveco​mmons.​org/​licen​ses/​by/4.​0/.

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