Metaverse dependency as a psychosomatic risk of immersive platforms: development and validation of the Metaverse Dependency-Related Experiences Scale.

INTRODUCTION

With the continuous expansion of socially immersive "metaverse" platforms, concerns regarding dependence-like tendencies associated with avatar-based virtual environments have grown. However, validated instruments that capture the psychosomatic and immersion-related characteristics central to such environments remain scarce. To address this gap, this study developed and preliminarily validated the Metaverse Dependency-Related Experiences Scale (MDRES), a self-report measure that assesses dependence-like tendencies in communication-oriented virtual environments.

METHODS

This research comprised two studies. Study 1 included the following two phases: Phase 1 involved qualitative item generation based on open-ended responses from active metaverse users, while Phase 2 involved item reduction and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using the candidate items. Study 2 conducted confirmatory factor analysis and examined associations between the MDRES and theoretically relevant external variables.

RESULTS

In Study 1 Phase 1, qualitative responses were utilized to generate an initial pool of 52 candidate items. In Study 1 Phase 2, these 52 candidate items were administered, and EFA identified a six-factor, 39-item structure, including Reality Avoidance (α = 0.93), Confusion Between Physical and Virtual Spaces (α = 0.91), Awareness of Physical Symptoms (α = 0.85), Sleep Disturbance-Like Symptoms (α = 0.89), Physical Discomfort/Sensory Abnormalities (α = 0.85), and Stress Relief (α = 0.54). In Study 2, the six-factor structure received initial confirmatory support, while the MDRES subscales exhibited theoretically coherent associations with psychological distress, mood, somatic symptoms, mental health-related indicators, and game engagement.

DISCUSSION: Overall, the MDRES highlights the multidimensional, psychosomatic, and ambivalent nature (risk-related and stress-relieving) of metaverse involvement and offers a conceptually grounded tool for future work on dependence processes in immersive virtual environments.