Abstract

Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is a newly identified condition characterized by absorption in fantasy, which appears to progress into psychological dependence, associated with substantial distress and maladaptation.

This study determines, for the first time, the psychometric properties of the 16-item Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16), an updated version of the MDS-14 (Somer, Lehrfeld, Bigelsen, & Jopp, 2016), originally designed to identify maladaptive daydreaming experiences. The MDS-16 was administered in a multicountry Arab sample composed of 180 respondents aged 18 to 58 years (M = 26.28, SD = 8.14). Our analyses indicated 2 strongly related factors underlying the MDS-16, capturing immersive daydreaming and the distress and impairment associated with it. The MDS-16 demonstrated sound psychometric properties and differentiated well between self-identified individuals with and without MD on a range of psychosocial indicators.

The instrument had high sensitivity and specificity, implying that the MDS-16 can confidently be deployed in future investigations of MD in the Arab world. Our findings shed light on the potential value of the MDS-16 for international inquiry of this newly defined condition.

(PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

Further Information

Unfortunately, the full version of this paper isn’t available for free. You might find more details online if you’re interested.

If you’d like to learn more, the author has kindly given permission for his contact details to be shared. 

Prof. Eli Somer: eli.somer@me.com