Dependencia emocional en el noviazgo y consecuencias psicológicas del abuso de internet y móvil en jóvenes

Abstract

New technologies are increasingly present in our daily lives, what makes necessary the study of its possible consequences and development of addictive behaviours. In this sense, it must be said that adolescence is an especially vulnerable age for the appearance of risk behaviours such as addictions. This responds to the fact of being an excessively dependent development stage. The present study was carried out with a sample of 535 youth university students in order to analyze the emotional dependence in dating relationships and the psychological consequences of using Internet and mobile-phones (thus anxious and depressive symptoms and self-esteem), considering gender differences as well as the role that emotional dependence plays on this use and the predictive role of the use over the consequences mentioned before. The results showed gender differences in the abuse of mobile, depression, and self-esteem. Also, emotional dependency correlated with Internet and mobile abuse, and both constructs correlated with anxiety, depression and self-esteem. Finally, emotional dependency predicted Internet and mobile abuse, as well as anxious and depressive symptomatology and self-esteem, which also predicted mobile and Internet abuse. This study provides new keys to the understanding of the emotional dependency and Internet and mobile abuse, and the relationship they have amongst them and with other constructs.