title: Internet Addiction and Excessive Social Networks Use: What About Facebook?
abstract: Facebook is notably the most widely known and used social network worldwide. It has been described as a valuable tool for leisure and communication between people all over the world. However, healthy and conscience Facebook use is contrasted by excessive use and lack of control, creating an addiction with severely impacts the everyday life of many users, mainly youths. If Facebook use seems to be related to the need to belong, affiliate with others and for self-presentation, the beginning of excessive Facebook use and addiction could be associated to reward and gratification mechanisms as well as some personality traits. Studies from several countries indicate different Facebook addiction prevalence rates, mainly due to the use of a wide-range of evaluation instruments and to the lack of a clear and valid definition of this construct. Further investigations are needed to establish if excessive Facebook use can be considered as a specific online addiction disorder or an Internet addiction subtype.
authors.affiliation: Grupo Delete - Detox Digital e uso consciente de Tecnologias, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Laboratory of Panic and Respiration, Institute of Psychiatry (IPUB), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; College of Social Communication, Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guedes
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sancassiani
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: Mauro Giovani
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Carta
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Panic and Respiration, Institute of Psychiatry (IPUB), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Health School, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Panic and Respiration, Institute of Psychiatry (IPUB), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Physical Activity Neuroscience, Physical Activity Postgraduate Program, Salgado de Oliveira University (UNIVERSO), Niterói, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.affiliation: Grupo Delete - Detox Digital e uso consciente de Tecnologias, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Laboratory of Panic and Respiration, Institute of Psychiatry (IPUB), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Anna Lucia Spear
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Grupo Delete - Detox Digital e uso consciente de Tecnologias, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Laboratory of Panic and Respiration, Institute of Psychiatry (IPUB), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Antonio Egidio
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Nardi
keywords: Excessive Use; Facebook; Internet Addiction; Social Networks