Measuring Digital Media Literacy in Adolescents: Evidence for a Multidimensional Structure Through ESEM

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-803-0_9How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Digital Media Literacy; Adolescents; Social Media; Internal Structure; ESEM Modeling

Abstract

This study examines the multidimensional internal structure of a measure of digital media literacy in adolescents, considering their dual role as consumers and creators of social media content. In an increasingly dynamic digital environment, the study integrates critical, ethical, emotional, and self-regulatory competencies to address the complexity of contemporary digital practices. A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed with a sample of 1,026 Peruvian adolescents aged 11 to 17 years. The analysis followed an exploratory–confirmatory strategy that included exploratory factor analysis based on polychoric correlations, a CFA model, and ESEM modeling. The analyzed version consisted of 50 items organized into eight dimensions: content publication involvement, critical thinking, emotional impact, parental mediation, awareness of digital use, identity and privacy management, self-regulation, and propensity to digital engagement. The results provide initial validity evidence based on internal structure, together with adequate internal consistency estimates (α = .678–.900; ω = .727–.916). The ESEM model showed a better fit than the CFA model, supporting an interrelated representation of the construct within the analyzed sample. This study provides empirical evidence on the multidimensional internal organization of digital media literacy and offers a conceptual and analytical basis for future longitudinal and comparative research.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial 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 Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Lisbeth Farfán-Chávez
AU  - Tomás Atarama-Rojas
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/16
TI  - Measuring Digital Media Literacy in Adolescents: Evidence for a Multidimensional Structure Through ESEM
BT  - Proceedings of the VI International Conference on Communication and Applied Technologies 2026 (ICOMTA 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 81
EP  - 91
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-803-0_9
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-803-0_9
ID  - Farfán-Chávez2026
ER  -