Relation between social skills and life satisfaction by adolescents and use of applications for communication

Abstract

Numerous factors have been studied to identify the consequences of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), among them social skills (SS) and life satisfaction (LS). This study aimed to evaluate the associations between SS and LS in adolescents that use ICTs. The sample consisted of 228 adolescents (age:14-17; M=16.07; DP=.74), students from two private high schools from south of Brazil. The participants answered a Sociodemo-graphic Questionnaire and ICTs' use, Social Skills Inventory for Adolescents (IHSA-Del-Prette) and the Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale for Adolescents (MLSSA). The results indicated that smartphone (71.5 %, n=163) is the most used gadget by adolescents, and the most common apps are the WhatsApp (96.9 %, n=221) and Facebook (83.3 %, n=190). Good levels of LS and SS were founded, as well as various associations between them (Friendship/Empathy p=.365; Non-Violence/Self-Control p=.392; Total-Scale-MLSSA/Empathy p=.412), inferred that the bigger the repertoire of adolescents' SS are, the bigger their LS is.