Use of Virtual Social Networks and its Association with Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement among Nursing Students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences at 2018

Abstract

Abstract: Background and aim: Nowadays, virtual social networks has become an imperative tool in the exchange of science, knowledge and technology, and found great popularity between different people, especially students, which can affect their academic achievement. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the status of using social networks and its relationship with emotional intelligence and academic achievement in nursing students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.

Material and Methods: The present study is a descriptive-correlational study conducted with the participation of 383 nursing students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences selected by available method. In this study, demographic characteristics questionnaire and societal social status questionnaire, Gilman model of Siberia Schering's emotional intelligence questionnaire, and a general mean score were used to collect data. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 and descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.

Results: In this study, 205 (53.5%) of the participants were female and the Mean ± SD of age and grade point average (GPA) of the participants were 22.09 ± 3.55 and 16.53 ± 1.60, respectively. The most important reason of students for joining to social networks was communicating with friends, awareness of class news, learning science, entertainment, and finding friend. The mean total score of social media use status was 116.81±17.20 and the overall score of emotional intelligence was 99.27±11.48. Pearson correlation coefficient showed that there is a meaningful statistical relationship between the use of social networks with intelligence and academic achievements variables.

Discussion and Conclusion: Considering the results of this study, it can be concluded that the status of using virtual social networks has a negative significant relationship with emotional intelligence and academic achievement variables. In other words, it can be said that by improving students' emotional intelligence, it is possible to avoid the harmful effects of social networks on their academic achievement.