ABSTRACT
Abstract Objective: To assess the prevalence of excessive use of social media and associated factors, as well as possible health consequences in high school students in southern Brazil. Methods: This is a population-based cross-sectional study, conducted with high school students in the city of Rio Grande, RS. All students who were attending high school at the Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Sul, campus Rio Grande, were eligible for this research in the second semester of 2019. In total, 513 students participated in the study. The dependent variable was excessive use of social media, defined as more than five hours per day. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were carried out and the Poisson regression was used to verify associations, with robust adjustment of variance. Results: The prevalence of students who reported excessive use of social media was 35.9%. The groups that were most susceptible to excessive use of social media had the following profile: female, black/brown skin, aged between 18 and 20 years old, attending the first year of high school. Excessive use of social media was shown to be associated with smoking, risk of depression, anxiety and stress, high risk of suicide and drug use. Conclusions: More than a third of students used social media excessively. This behavior was associated with negative health outcomes.
Resumo Objetivo: Avaliar a prevalência do uso excessivo de redes sociais e identificar os seus fatores associados em estudantes do ensino médio do Sul do Brasil. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal de base populacional. Foram elegíveis para esta pesquisa todos os estudantes que estavam cursando o ensino médio no Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, campus Rio Grande, no 2º semestre de 2019. No total, 513 alunos participaram do estudo. A variável dependente deste estudo foi o uso excessivo de redes sociais, definido como mais de cinco horas por dia. Foram realizadas análises descritivas e bivariadas e, para verificar as associações, foi utilizada a regressão de Poisson, com ajuste robusto da variância. Resultados: A prevalência de estudantes que relataram uso excessivo de redes sociais foi de 35,9%. Os grupos mais suscetíveis a usar excessivamente as redes sociais foram: sexo feminino, cor de pele preta/parda e faixa etária entre 18 e 20 anos. Houve associação entre uso excessivo de redes sociais com tabagismo, risco de depressão, ansiedade e estresse, risco elevado de suicídio e uso de drogas. Conclusões: Mais de um terço dos estudantes usava em excesso as redes sociais. Esse comportamento esteve associado com desfechos negativos em saúde.
ABSTRACT
Resumen El presente estudio se propuso investigar perfiles de usuarios de redes sociales que presentan conductas disruptivas online. Para tal fin se diseñó un índice que permite evaluar el nivel en el que se presentan dichas conductas y se analizó la relación entre la intensidad de la conducta disruptiva online con variables sociodemográficas, motivos de usos de redes, variables de personalidad (normales, patológicas y rasgos vinculados a tríada oscura), bienestar y malestar psicológico. Participaron 858 adultos (421 hombres y 437 mujeres) que tenían en promedio 39.16 años (DE = 14.14). Para la recolección de datos se administraron: Dark Triad Scale, Big Five Inventory, Inventario para Trastornos de la Personalidad para el DSM-5, Mental Health Continuum . Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, y se diseñaron dos escalas: Índice de Conductas Disruptivas Online y Motivos de Utilización de Redes Sociales. En cuanto a las variables sociodemográficas, se halló que los más jóvenes de sexo masculino y que no trabajaban eran quienes presentaban un mayor nivel de comportamientos disruptivos online. En cuanto a los motivos de uso de redes, se observó que preferían usarlas con fines meramente exhibicionistas, de ocio o para iniciar nuevas relaciones. Por otro lado, en relación con rasgos de personalidad, aquellos que diferenciaban los perfiles en cuanto a la intensidad de las conductas disruptivas fueron: bajos niveles de responsabilidad y altos niveles de desinhibición, narcisismo y maquiavelismo. Por último, se demostró que presentar este tipo de conductas se asocia con mayor nivel de estrés y menor de bienestar social.
Abstract The present study focused on the analysis of online disruptive behavior that usually occurs among social network users. Individuals who perpetrate such behavior are commonly known as trolls or haters (Cheng, Danescu-Niculescu-Mitzil, & Leskovec, 2015). In general, they post comments, photos or provocative videos that do not pursue any purpose other than annoying or obtaining pleasure or fun (Brandel, 2007; Phillips, 2011). Recent studies have shown that certain personality traits are associated with the presence of such disruptive behavior. In this research, we studied normal personality traits, psychopathological traits, and dark personality traits in relation to disruptive behavior. The normal personality traits were considered from the classic Five Factor Model (FFM) - Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism (Costa, & McCrae, 1985); the psychopathological traits, from the latest version of the DSM - Negative Effect, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition and Psychoticism (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013); and the dark personality traits from the so-called Dark Triad model - Narcissism, Machiavellianism and Psychopathy (Palthus, & Williams, 2002). This latter model has a growing interest in the international literature, related to dysfunctional Internet use, particularly to social networks. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze profiles of social network users who present online disruptive behavior. For this purpose, an index was designed to assess the level of occurrence of such behaviors. First, the relationship between the intensity of online disruptive behavior and sociodemographic variables (i. e., sex, age, studies, occupation and nationality) and motives for social network use (i. e., Relationship maintenance; Passing time and Exhibitionism; Relationship Initiation and Search for companionship) were assessed. Then, the relationships among personality variables (i. e., normal, psychopathological and traits related to the dark triad); well-being (i. e., emotional, social and personal) and psychological distress (i. e., anxiety, stress and depression) were analyzed. The sample consisted of 858 adults (421 men, 49.1 % and 437 women, 50.9 %) with a mean age of 39.16 years (SD = 14.14). The majority (67.9 %; n = 583) lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina). For data collection, the following questionnaires were used: Dark Triad Scale (DTS), Big Five Inventory (BFI), Personality Disorder Inventory (PID-5-BF), the Mental Health Continuum (MHC-SF), and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Additionally, two scales were designed: Online Disruptive Behavior Index, and Motives for Social Networks Use. The SPPS 24.0 statistical package was used for data analysis. Overall, the results are consistent with those reported in the international literature. Regarding sociodemographic variables, it was found that male, younger and unemployed individuals are those who presented higher level of online disruptive behavior. Considering motives for social network use, it was observed that individuals who tend to behave in a dysfunctional manner, preferred to use social networks purely for exhibitionism, pastime or relationships initiation. Regarding personality traits, those who differentiated profiles in terms of intensity of disruptive behaviors were: low levels of responsibility and high levels of disinhibition, narcissism and Machiavellianism. Thus, it might be concluded that the overall personality profile tends to be dysfunctional in terms of its characteristics. Finally, it was shown that presenting this type of behavior is associated with higher levels of stress and lower levels of social wellbeing. Therefore, it might be interpreted that although individuals who behave disruptively tend to obtain gratification from injury and deceit to others, this behavior does not result in positive results for them, but rather results in feelings of discomfort from a personal and social point of view.