Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicología del Principado de Asturias).
We currently publish four issues per year, which accounts for some 100 articles annually. We admit work from both the basic and applied research fields, and from all areas of Psychology, all manuscripts being anonymously reviewed prior to publication.
Psicothema, 2009. Vol. Vol. 21 (nº 3). 480-485
Marta Beranuy Fargues, Andrés Chamarro Lusar*, Carla Graner Jordania** y Xavier Carbonell Sánchez
Universidad Ramón Llul, * Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona y ** Grupo Mutua de Terrasa
Se construyeron dos cuestionarios para evaluar el uso adictivo de Internet y del móvil que se aplicaron a una muestra de 1.879 estudiantes. Los resultados apoyan un modelo de dos factores, con una aceptable consistencia interna e indicios de validez convergente y discriminante. El Cuestionario de Experiencias Relacionadas con Internet evaluó conflictos intra e interpersonales relacionados con el uso de Internet. El Cuestionario de Experiencias Relacionadas con Móvil evaluó dos factores: primero, conflictos relacionados con el abuso del móvil, y segundo, problemas debido al uso emocional y comunicacional. Nuestros resultados indican que el móvil no produce el mismo grado de adicción; más bien se puede hablar de uso problemático. Los hombres presentaron un uso más adictivo de Internet, mientras las mujeres se caracterizaron por usar el móvil como medio para expresar y comunicar las emociones. Parece que el uso de ambas tecnologías es más problemático en la adolescencia y se normaliza con la edad, hacia un uso más profesional, menos lúdico y con menos consecuencias negativas.
Validation of two brief scales for Internet addiction and mobile phone problem use. This study describes the construction and validation process of two questionnaires designed to assess the addictive use of Internet and mobile phones. The scales were applied to a sample of 1,879 students. Results support a two-factor model, presenting an acceptable internal consistency and indices of convergent and discriminant validity. The Questionnaire of Experiences Related to Internet was found to assess intra- and interpersonal conflicts related to Internet use. The Questionnaire of Experiences Related to the Mobile Phone was found to assess conflicts related to mobile phone abuse and to maladaptive emotional and communicational patterns. Our results indicate that the mobile phone does not produce the same degree of addictive behavior as Internet; it could rather be interpreted as problematic use. Men displayed more addictive use of Internet, whilst women seemed to use the mobile phone as a means for emotional communication. It seems that the use of both technologies is more problematic during adolescence and normalizes with age toward a more professional and less playful use, and with fewer negative consequences.
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