Diferencias en la atención sostenida en jóvenes universitarios con distintos niveles de uso de smartphone / Differences in sustained attention in young university students with different levels of smartphone use

RESUMEN

Resumen El uso constante de los dispositivos móviles está generando nuevos fenómenos de comportamiento. En años recientes, se ha puesto énfasis en los cambios cognitivos que se podrían generar en los jóvenes que hacen uso excesivo de estos dispositivos. El objetivo del trabajo fue conocer las diferencias en la atención sostenida en jóvenes universitarios asociadas a distintos niveles de uso del teléfono inteligente. Se obtuvo una muestra de 94 adultos, 34 hombres y 60 mujeres de 18 a 23 años (M = 19.34, DE = 1.09) alumnos de la escuela superior de Actopan, Hidalgo-México. Se aplicó la Escala de Dependencia y Adicción al Smartphone EDAS (Aranda-López et al., 2017) y una prueba computarizada de ejecución continua (CPT) Test of Atenttional Vigilance (TOAV; Mueller y Pipper, 2014). Se realizó un ANOVA de una vía, en el que la variable independiente fue el nivel de uso del teléfono inteligente (sin dependencia, dependencia y adicción) y la variable dependiente fueron las puntuaciones obtenidas en el TOAV. Se observó que existen diferencias significativas a nivel estadístico en lo relativo a errores de omisión de la segunda mitad de la prueba (p = .005); las diferencias fueron entre los grupos de sin dependencia-dependencia (p = .010) y sin dependencia-adicción (p = .024). Acorde a los hallazgos del presente estudio, existen diferencias en el proceso de atención sostenida entre usuarios con diferentes niveles de uso del teléfono inteligente; los estudiantes con niveles de dependencia y adicción enfrentan dificultades en la atención sostenida cuando la tarea se prolonga y aumenta la demanda cognitiva.

ABSTRACT

Abstract The constant use of mobile devices changed our lives dramatically during the past years and its usage increased over the years. Smartphone use is associated with isolation and interpersonal problems; its overuse can cause cognitive problems too (Matar Boumosleh & Jaalouk, 2017). Cognitive problems associated with smartphones in young people are reduction of sustained attention and working memory. Findings have been reported in which younger populations show deterioration in different components of care, highlighting the difficulty of walking and using the smartphone at the same time (Prupetkaew et al., 2019). It has been reported that the impulsivity associated with use of smartphone in silent mode interferes in memory tests unlike when it is in off mode in young populations (Canale et al., 2019). It is necessary to evaluate the effects of using a smartphone on young people because it is a population that uses it constantly to develop in work, academic, sports, and even socializing activities. The aim of this paper was to find out the differences in sustained attention in young university students with different levels of smartphone use. A sample of 94 adults, 34 men and 60 women between the ages of 18 and 23 (M = 19.34, SD = 1.09), who were students of the higher school of Actopan, Hidalgo-Mexico. The EDAS -Smartphone Dependency and Addiction Scale- was applied (Aranda-López et al., 2017). For the evaluation of attention, a Computerized Continuous Running Test (CPT), Test of Attentional Vigilance (TOAV) was applied using the Psychology Experimental Building Language PEBL-2 platform (Mueller & Pipper, 2014). The inclusion criteria were that the participants were between 18-23 years old, right-handed, with normal and/or corrected vision. They were excluded from the investigation if they had a history of psychiatric and/or neurological diseases, learning difficulties, chronic alcohol and/or drug use. A one-way ANOVA was performed, where the independent variable was the level of smartphone use (no dependence, dependence and addiction) and the dependent variable was the scores obtained in the TOAV. It was observed that there are statistically significant differences in the errors of omission of the second half of the test (p = .05), the differences were found between the groups of no dependence-dependence (p =.10) and without dependence-addiction (p = .24). The results showed that there are differences in the execution of a neuropsychological task, regarding the omission errors of the second part of the test. These differences could suggest that the level of sustained attention is diminished in the participants of the dependency and addiction group at the end of the task. On the other hand, it is also concluded that students with levels of dependence and smartphone addiction face attention difficulties when the task is longer and cognitive demand increases. This type of data must be analyzed taking into consideration variables such as sex, socioeconomic level, age, profile of use, quality of sleep, level of physical activity, among others.