Social media addiction and emotional intelligence in nursing students at a public university in Guayaquil.

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.2165112519087

• Palavras-chave: addiction, nursing, students, emotional intelligence, social media.

• Keywords: addiction, nursing, students, emotional intelligence, social media.

• Abstract:

  INTRODUCTION: Social media has become an essential pillar for interaction and assertive communication between people. However, its excessive and incorrect use could have negative consequences for health. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between social media addiction and emotional intelligence in nursing students at a public university in Guayaquil. METHODOLOGY: An observational, descriptive, correlational study was conducted during 2024. The universe consisted of 932 students aged 18 to 25, from which a sample of 272 students was obtained using a simple random probability sampling method. The survey technique was used, along with instruments such as the Social Network Use Questionnaire (ARS) and the Bar-On Emotional Inventory. The variables were processed using the statistical package SPSS version 19.0 and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: The average age was 19 years, with a predominance of women (80.15%), single marital status (92.28%), who mainly used the WhatsApp platform (60.29%), with a connection time of more than 120 minutes (40.81%). The students had a medium level of addiction (54.41%) and an average level of emotional intelligence (37.1%); there is a statistically significant association between social media addiction and emotional intelligence with a value of p=0.001 and Rho= -0.537. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that there is a relationship between social media addiction and emotional intelligence in nursing students during their academic training.