Social networks addictions and academic performance of students at the University of Kinshasa

Abstract

This study is part of the policy of preventing addictive behaviors in the academic environment in order to ensure the integral well-being of students. Its aim was to relate social network addiction to the academic performance of students at the University of Kinshasa. To this end, a social network addiction test was administered to a sample of 91 graduate students from several faculties at the University of Kinshasa. This test was coupled with a documentary technique that provided us with the students' academic performance at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year. The social network addiction test divided the sample into two groups: (1) social network addicts (23 subjects or 25.3%) and (2) social network non-addicts (68 subjects or 74.7%). In terms of academic performance, three student profiles emerged: (1) 57 students or 62.6% of subjects demonstrated average quality achievement (60-69%); (2) 30 students or 33% of subjects demonstrated low quality achievement (50-59%), (3) 4 students or 4.4% of subjects demonstrated higher quality achievement. Comparing the academic grades of subjects addicted to social networking with those of non-addicts, a statistically significant difference was found. The non-addicts performed better academically than the addicts. Thus, we can conclude that addiction to social networks negatively affects the performance of understudy students. These results can serve as a basis for raising students' awareness of the dangers of abusing social networks. They can help in any attempts to regulate the use of telephones in the academic environment. Last but not least, they can be used as a frame of reference for the University's policy on addiction prevention.