Facebook addiction and self-esteem in nursing students

Introduction: Facebook is one of the social networks used to socialize or meet people from different parts of the world, however, it can cause addiction to its use, this may be related to low self-esteem, because it is a means by which they can feel appreciated or valued by their friends in this social network. Objective: Determine the relationship between Facebook and self-esteem in nursing students in southern Mexico. Methods: This is a quantitative, descriptive and correlational research, with a sample of 196 university students studying for a bachelor's degree in nursing at a public university in the state of Tabasco, over 18 years of age; selected by non -probabilistic convenience sampling. The instruments used were the "Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale" and the "Rosenberg Self -Esteem Scale". Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were applied for data analysis. Results: The level of Facebook addiction ranged from mild (64.8%) to moderate (27%) and with respect to the level of self-esteem, the majority presented a high (70.4%) and medium (19.4%) level. Similarly, a relationship was identified between Facebook addiction and self-esteem (r(s )= -.30, p<.01), as well as between Facebook addiction (r(s )= -.247, p<.01), and age of Facebook use initiation. Conclusion: Facebook addiction is negatively related to self-esteem, that is, to the extent that self-esteem decreases, the level of Facebook addiction may increase.