Life Satisfaction and Family Communication as Protective Factors in Problematic Internet Use in University Students.

Introduction: Problematic Internet use (PIU) is considered a serious condition and a potential factor for various physical and psychological health problems, with higher prevalence rates in the young adult population, a situation aggravated by mandatory exposure to digital platforms and tools of virtual education due to the pandemic, extending the internet connection for academic, social, and leisure activities.

Objective: Examinate if satisfaction with life and family communication constitute protective factors in the problematic use of the Internet in Peruvian university students.

Method: Cross-sectional study of multivariate relationship. And 621 university students participated, with a mean age of 21.63 (SD = 3.04), selected through convenience sampling.

Results: According to the structural regression model, satisfaction with life and family communication has a negative impact with a combined effect of 20% in explaining PIU. Likewise, the logistic regression analysis showed that the predictor variables are associated as protective factors for PIU (odds ratio < 1, p < .01). The descriptive results show that the preferred device to connect to the Internet is the smartphone, only 20% of students use the Internet for academic purposes, around 60% connect more than 30 h a week, a 34% of university students present between serious and clinically significant problematic use.

Conclusion: The existence of favorable life satisfaction and positive family communication considerably reduces the risk of developing PIU.