Adicção em redes sociais em estudantes universitários no Norte de Minas Gerais - Brasil

Abstract

Social networks have become increasingly present in the lives of individuals and represent the main form of virtual communication. With the growing popularity of social networks, it is estimated that there will also be an increase and emergence of problems related to excessive use and dependence on networks, in quantity and severity, which has sparked studies with the aim of understanding the impacts and consequences arising from these technologies. The objective of this work is to estimate the prevalence of addiction to social networks in university students at a Higher Education School in the north of Minas Gerais - Brazil and the possible associated factors. This is a cross-sectional and analytical study, of the websurvey type, carried out with higher education students at a public educational institution in the north of the state of Minas Gerais-Brazil. The data collection instrument includes a sociodemographic questionnaire and the validated questionnaires “Social Network Addiction Scale - EARS”, “Fantastic Lifestyle” and “Maslach Burnout Inventory/Student Survey - MBI-SS”. The analyzes were obtained using SPSS version 23.0 software, in which descriptive and multiple analyzes were carried out. The Chi-square test and Poisson regression were used. The study respected the formal requirements contained in the regulatory standards for research involving human beings. 677 higher education students participated in the study. The most used social networks were WhatsApp (99.0%), Instagram (86.4%), Facebook (64.2%), and Twitter actual X (20.9%). Addiction to social networks was present in 46.4% of the sample studied, with an association between the age group under 23 years old (PR 1.32; CI 1.09-1.59); absence of paid work (PR 1.28; CI 1.04-1.56); practicing physical activity less than three times a week (PR 1.24; CI 1.06- 1.45); to the lower frequency of affective interaction (PR 1.28; CI 1.09-1.50) and the presence of Burnout Syndrome (PR 1.44; CI 1.16-1.79 ). Thus, this study found a high prevalence of addiction on social networks, which is associated with the age group under 23 years old, the absence of paid activity, the practice of physical activity less than three times a week, the lower frequency of emotional interaction and the presence of Burnout Syndrome. From this perspective, it is important for professionals who deal with university students to develop educational actions, with the aim of providing greater clarification on the topic of addiction on social networks, taking care of digital well-being and promoting a style active and healthy lifestyle.