Risk of addiction to Facebook among Medical University students in Białystok, Poland

Introduction: Facebook is the most popular socialnetworking website in the world. It is estimated that it currently has more than 350 million users worldwide. Purpose; To assess the risk of addiction to Facebook the risk of addiction to Facebook among students of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Medical University of Białystok in Poland. Materials and methods: This study included 440 student Facebook users. The original survey, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) as well as a Self-Assessment Test were used (FAT). Results: Twenty-seven percent of the sample have had Facebook accounts for one to two years. Fortyfive percent of the respondents had 91 to 300 Facebook friends. Ninety-four percent of the respondents reported that they do not think about Facebook when they are disconnected from it. A similar number of students reported that it is possible for people to become addicted to Facebook. Forty-seven percent of the respondents were convinced that they would be able to recognize a Facebook addict. The average number of points scored on the FAT test was 16.2 ± 21.1 points; the average on the self-assessment was 44.7 ± 20.1 points; the average on SWLS scale was 15.3 ±5.24 points. Five percent of students demonstrated features of Facebook addiction as well as low selfesteem and life satisfaction. Conclusions: Problematic use of Facebook affected a small percentage of respondents who had low self-esteem and self were dissatisfied with their lives.