Abstract

FONSECA, Patrícia Nunes da et al. Use of social networks and loneliness: psychometric evidence of scales. Arq. bras. psicol. [online]. 2018, vol.70, n.3, pp.198-212. ISSN 1809-5267.

The objective of this study was to gather evidence of validity and accuracy of the Cuestionário de Adicción a Redes Sociales (CARS) and Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and to know the relationship between social network dependence and the perception of loneliness. 234 university students from the city of João Pessoa (PB) participated, with an average age of 23.94 years (SD = 6.67), most of them were female (58%) and single (82.6%). They responded to CARS, UCLA, Scale of Problematic Internet, Sigle Item Self-Esteem Scale and sociodemographic issues. The results of the exploratory factorial analysis indicated a single factor for the CARS and UCLA, which demonstrated equally favorable evidence of precision, both with Cronbach's alpha equal to 0.93. There was a positive relationship between the use of social networks and the perception of loneliness and a negative relation of this last variable with self-esteem. Therefore, the psychometric qualities of the instruments are ensured and it is verified that the virtual contacts do not supply the need of face-to-face contact.

Keywords : Social networks; Loneliness; Self-esteem; Social interaction.

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