The Scale of the Facebook Addiction Among the Students of High Schools From the Podkarpackie Province

Abstract

The authors of this publication have set themselves the following goals: 1) to diagnose the rate of dependence on Facebook (FB) among high schools school students; 2) to check whether gender is a determinant of this dependence, and 3) whether the time spent on using this social platform is related to dependency on it? The research was carried out in 11 high schools from the Podkarpackie Province on a sample of 1317 students (N = 1317). To diagnose the rate of FB ad-diction, the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS) was used in the Polish adaptation of Charzyńska and Góźdź. The results of the authors’ own research confirmed the presence of the pathological phenomenon of using this portal among the pupils surveyed. The scale of addiction is different. In accordance with the “liberal” approach, it amounted to 21,3% and the “conservative” approach to 3,3%. The research also confirmed that the time spent daily on this portal is a statisti-cally significant variable differentiating the rate of dependence on FB (for the “liberal” measure: χ2(4) =105,91; p < 0,05, and for “conservative” χ2(4) = 22,16; p < 0,05). Moreover, gender signifi-cantly differentiates the rate of pathological use of the FB only with the “liberal” approach to measuring this dependency (χ2(1) = 6,05; p < 0,05).