Table 1. 24 items of the initial WEUS and their correlations with total score.
| No | Item | Item correlation with total score |
|---|---|---|
| Item 1 | I have used WeChat when I was bored | .555** |
| Item 2 | I have used WeChat to relieve of loneliness and stress | .704** |
| Item 3 | I play on WeChat as a way of relieving a bad mood like feelings of anxiety or depression | .696** |
| Item 4 | When on WeChat, I forget about my everyday problems | .662** |
| Item 5 | I feel happy and satisfied when I am on WeChat | .664** |
| Item 6 | I can never spend enough time on WeChat | .655** |
| Item 7 | I find myself saying “just a few more minutes” when browsing WeChat | .710** |
| Item 8 | There are times when I would rather play on WeChat than go out with my friends | .605** |
| Item 9 | I feel preoccupied with using WeChat [I think about previous WeChat activity or anticipate next opportunity to use WeChat] | .668** |
| Item 10 | I feel the need to use WeChat with increasing amounts of time to achieve satisfaction. | .690** |
| Item 11 | I feel depressed, moody or irritated when I can’t check messages or posts on WeChat, which goes away once I am back on WeChat | .695** |
| Item 12 | I check my WeChat before something else that I need to do | .725** |
| Item 13 | I feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop use of WeChat | .738** |
| Item 14 | I have tried to spend less time on WeChat but am unable to. | .671** |
| Item 15 | I have missed on conversations while physically with friends or family because of preoccupation with WeChat | .718** |
| Item 16 | I have missed on some information in class or meetings because of using WeChat | .710** |
| Item 17 | I have slept late because of preoccupation with WeChat | .702** |
| Item 18 | My school performance or productivity has suffered because of WeChat | .668** |
| Item 20 | I feel excited when friends comment or like my posts and pictures | .639** |
| Item 21 | I have made new friends on WeChat which I would never have made in real life | .557** |
| Item 22 | All my friends use WeChat | .454** |
| Item 23 | Most people and services I know use WeChat and WeChat QR code* | .304** |
| Item 24 | I keep in touch and know about my friends through WeChat | .595** |
*: QR Code means Quick Response Code. It is a kind of black and white graphic data symbol information, which is distributed in the plane (two-dimensional direction) according to certain rules. It is a very familiar and commonly used a WeChat function, can be used for business card recognition, information acquisition, site hopping and mobile payment, etc.
** P < .001