Addiction to new technologies in adolescents and young people

Section: Revisiones

How to quote

Pascual Martínez A, Vega Díaz C, Vázquez Díaz C, Castaño García P, Castaño García T, Cernuda Martínez JA. Adicciones a nuevas tecnologías en adolescentes y jóvenes. Metas Enferm jun 2017; 20(5): 57-64.

Authors

Alba Pascual Martínez1, Carmen Vega Díaz2, Covadonga Vázquez Díaz3, Paula Castaño García4,Teresa Castaño García5, José Antonio Cernuda Martínez6

Position

1Especialista en Enfermería de Salud Mental. Servicio de Salud del Principado de Asturias2Máster en Enfermería de Urgencias y Cuidados Intensivos. Servicio Público Británico de Salud3Experta en Enfermería de Urgencias. Servicio Público Alemán de Salud4Experta en Enfermería de Urgencias y Emergencias. Servicio de Salud del Principado de Asturias5Máster en Gestión de Emergencia y Desastre. Servicio de Salud del Principado de Asturias6Doctor por la Universidad de Oviedo. Facultad de Enfermería de Gijón. Universidad de Oviedo

Contact address

José Antonio Cernuda Martínez. Facultad de Enfermería de Gijón. Camino de los Prados, 395. 33203 Cabueñes (Gijón).

Contact email: cernudajose@uniovi.es

Abstract

Objectives: to review the current situation of scientific knowledge on addiction and/or abuse of new technologies by adolescents and young persons, in order to describe and analyze the dangers entailed, as well as to show the role of the nursing professional in psychoaffective orientation for those suffering this addiction.
Method: a narrative review of literature. The following databases and other web resources were used: Medline, SSCI, PsycInfo, CINAHL and CUIDEN, as well as different websites by healthcare institutions. There was a selection of articles published between 2006 and 2016, in Spanish and in English, with the DeCS terms referenced as: “adolescente/adolescent”; “ansiedad/anxiety”; “conducta adictiva/addictive behaviour”; “multimedia”, and which contributed information to the subject of the study.
Results: in total, 27 articles were selected. Television is the technology that generates a higher perception of the problem in minors. In terms of potential addiction symptoms, it was confirmed that new technologies generate behaviours similar to those considered characteristic of established addictions. A behaviour that stands out is the relaxation caused by use, or the discomfort if it cannot be used. The presence of other behaviours relatively frequent was confirmed, which are exclusive to this type of technologies, such as constantly checking their mobile phone.
Conclusions: the implementation of psychoeducational methods, with a group education methodology, can be a useful tool in order to face the uncertainty present in adolescents with behaviour disorders of addiction to new technologies. The role of nursing professional becomes important here, as demonstrated by different studies on the treatment for this type of addictions.

Keywords:

adolescent; anxiety; addictive behaviour; multimedia; multimedia

Versión en Español

Título:

Adicciones a nuevas tecnologías en adolescentes y jóvenes