Estudio transcultural de usos y gratificaciones asociadas al uso problemático de internet y el smartphone en estudiantes universitarios

Abstract

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) requires new forms of adaptation and media training that enhances the usability of each electronic device. Therefore, it is understood that the knowledge and skills acquired or developed form new digital skills in the user. Van Deursen and Van Diepen (2013), highlight that currently there are adolescents who experience problems to recover information and process it, they precede a cognitive problem of a higher order that consists of the difficulty of selecting accurate information from the Internet to use it in various personal or academic contexts (Calvani, Fini, Ranieri, and Picci, 2012). Despite the importance generated by the intervention of technologies in education and society, there are still more than four billion people who still do not use them. 90% of which live in the developing world, while 3 out of 4 people are online in developed countries and 1 in 3 in developing countries, however, according to the ITU (2017) their utility goes growing steadily. The objective of this doctoral thesis is based on determining the perks of use and its association to the problematic use of Internet and smartphone (UPI / S), for this, the approach of the Theory of Uses and Gratifications (TUG) is incorporated. By Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch (1974), which points out that the user chooses a particular technology because of the level of gratification he perceives. Considering that it is a problem associated with the culture of the national context. Therefore, it is applied in university participants from Chile, Ecuador and Spain. The development of the research has been carried out in three phases: phase 1) previous and theoretical, which is composed of literary review of sources with impact factor, definition of objectives and research hypothesis, methodological design and selection of the sample; phase 2) empirical research, which is structured on the design, validation and application or execution of digital forms; and phase 3) analysis and conclusions, which covers three types of studies: a) the descriptive analysis by instrument and nation; b) transnational bivariate analysis; and c) the multivariate analysis that describes the models applied to the UPI / S by country. In addition, the following absolute adjustment measures were taken into account: ?2 / df (0 = ?2 / df = 3; .01 = p-value = 1) and the mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) (0 = RMSEA = .08). And for the incremental measurement of the adjustment, the comparative adjustment index (CFI) (.97 = CFI = 1) and the normative adjustment index (NFI) (.95 = NFI = 1) were used. Finally, for the measurement of the parsimonious adjustment, the empathy normative adjustment index (PNFI) was used (differences between .06 and .09). Finally, the conclusions reached by the study, limitations and the way to future lines of research are described, concluding with recommendations for the training of future researchers.