USE OF ICT AND SOCIAL NETWORKS: PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION

Abstract

The use of ICT and social networks is very topical. Its impact on the way we communicate and relate to others, as well as the way of thinking and the way of expressing feelings, appears abundantly in the basic and applied scientific literature. For this reason there is a need to deepen on psychosocial determinants, as well as on habits and pathologies, such as for example, the nomophobia. It is also necessary to carry out interventions together with educators and parents, as well as preventive strategies. In this symposium we present four communications that represent these two lines of research, from explanatory factors to intervention strategies and prevention. The first communication explores personal determinants and psychosocial aspects of the use of social networks among university students, with special emphasis on personality, self-esteem and well-being. In the second communication, the authors evaluate Nomophobia and describe the consumption of social networks through the mobile and the lifestyles of teenagers. In the third communication, a more propositional line, we present the design of a family intervention – the “Parents Connected” program- as well as preliminary data of its effectiveness in a pilot study carried out with parents of adolescents in 3º and 4º course of obligatory secondary education. The last communication explores how social networks can act as prevention and promotion tools of health in educational contexts.

Paulo C. Dias, Psychologist, with master degree in Educational Sciences and PhD in Health Psychology. As professor, he is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Psychology course at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Catholic University of Portugal and directs the research group regarding Developmental Pathways and Life Context at the Center of Philosophical and Humanistic Studies. Since 2009 has been involved in several National and European funded research in educational field (about plagiarism in secondary schools, project-based learning in secondary schools) and in health and addictions (early detection drug-consumption, alcohol prevention in adolescence, and cannabis prevention). More recently he has been involved in other projects, especially in social networking excessive use. During this period, outputs have been published in national and international journals.