Network consumption and sports practice: influence on the risk of network addiction and basic psychological needs

This study investigates how social network consumption (daily time and number of networks used) and sports practice (practice vs. no practice; individual vs. collective vs. both) relate to the risk of social network addiction and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (BPNs: competence, autonomy, relatedness) among university students. Prior work links heavy social network use to addictive behaviors and reduced well-being, and suggests exercise may promote healthier use and fulfill BPNs. The authors pose a novel question about whether the number of networks used increases addiction risk and how usage metrics and sport type/practice relate to BPNs. The starting hypothesis was that individual sports practice prevents the risk of addiction to networks, and greater network consumption favors BPN satisfaction, while no hypotheses were set for effects without prior evidence (e.g., number of networks vs. addiction/BPN). The study is important for understanding modifiable behaviors (screen use and sport) that may influence students’ mental health and need satisfaction.

The literature indicates social networks are widely used and may have adverse effects including addiction risk, unmet psychological needs, and sedentary behaviors. Risk indicators include addiction-symptoms, social-use, geek-traits, and nomophobia. Greater time online and use of multiple networks are associated with higher addiction risk. Evidence on the relation between social media use and sport is mixed: some report reduced sport participation due to time displacement, whereas others suggest social media can promote sport participation by increasing awareness. Sports may curb overconsumption through enhanced self-control; individual sports in particular have been linked to stronger self-regulatory skills than team sports. Regarding BPNs, networks may satisfy competence (e.g., achievements in games), autonomy (unrestricted access), and relatedness (virtual social connections), though heavy or obsessive engagement can undermine well-being. In sport contexts, BPN satisfaction often increases through opportunities for choice (autonomy), effective performance (competence), and social connection (relatedness). Some studies suggest collective sports may enhance competence and autonomy depending on context, whereas individual sports may provide fewer relatedness opportunities than team sports.

Design and participants: Cross-sectional study with 265 Spanish university students (Mage = 28.23; SD = 8.44; 110 men, 155 women). Programs included undergraduate (n=122) and master's (n=143) across 10 universities. Network use: 3 did not use social networks; 48 used one, 82 two, 84 three, 48 more than three. Daily use: 3.4% <1 h, 27.17% 1 h, 38.03% 2 h, 15.9% 3 h, 18.5% >3 h. Sports practice: 79.25% practiced at least weekly; frequency ranged 1–7 days/week. Sport modality: individual, collective, both, or none. Measures: (1) Ad hoc sociodemographic questionnaire (14 items) covering biological characteristics, employment status, social network consumption (hours/day, number of platforms), and sport practice (practice yes/no, days/week, type: individual/collective/both, federation membership). (2) Risk of Addiction—Adolescent to Social Networks and Internet scale (ERA-RSI; 29 items; four factors: addiction-symptoms, social-use, geek-traits, nomophobia). Responses 1–4; reliability in this study: α=0.78 (addiction-symptoms), 0.76 (social-use), 0.64 (geek-traits), 0.71 (nomophobia). (3) Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale (BNSG-S; 21 items; competence, autonomy, relatedness), 1–7 Likert; reliability: α=0.68 (competence), 0.76 (autonomy), 0.76 (relatedness). Procedure: Ethical approval from UNIR (No. 074/2022). Recruitment via professors at 10 universities; online informed consent; anonymous online questionnaire completed in class via computers/mobile; IP addresses not recorded. Data analysis: SPSS v19. Descriptive statistics. MANOVA to test mean differences across (a) daily network use time and (b) number of networks for addiction risk factors; MANOVA for sport practice and sport type vs. addiction risk; MANOVA for daily network use and number of networks vs. BPN satisfaction; MANOVA for sport practice and sport type vs. BPN satisfaction. Effect sizes via Eta-squared with thresholds: 0.01 small, 0.06 medium, 0.14 large. Tukey HSD post hoc for variables with >3 options and significant ANOVAs.

- Time spent on social networks and addiction risk: MANOVA indicated a significant effect of daily network consumption on addiction risk (Wilks' Lambda; p<0.05) with a large multivariate effect (η²=0.13). Students using networks >3 h/day reported higher scores on: addiction-symptoms (p<0.05; η²=0.37), social-use (p<0.05; η²=0.22), geek-traits (p<0.05; η²=0.07), and nomophobia (p<0.05; η²=0.05). - Number of social networks and addiction risk: Significant multivariate effect (F=4.06; p<0.05; η²=0.05, medium). Users of three networks and those with more than three networks showed higher addiction-symptoms (p<0.05; η²≈0.13), higher social-use (p<0.05; η²≈0.16), and higher geek-traits (p<0.05; η²≈0.07) than users of fewer or no networks; nomophobia differences were not significant (η²=0.02). - Sports practice (yes/no) and addiction risk: No significant multivariate effect (Wilks' Lambda; F=0.52; p>0.05; η²=0.00). - Sport type and addiction risk: Significant multivariate effect by sport type (Wilks' Lambda; p<0.05; η²=0.01, small). Collective sport practitioners reported higher addiction-symptoms than individual sport practitioners (p<0.05; η²=0.03); other risk factors showed no significant differences. - Network use and BPN satisfaction: No significant effects for daily consumption time (Wilks' Lambda; F=0.88; p>0.05; η²=0.01) or number of networks (Wilks' Lambda; F=0.50; p>0.05; η²=0.00) on competence, autonomy, or relatedness. - Sports practice and BPN satisfaction: Significant multivariate effect (Wilks' Lambda; F=2.46; p<0.05; η²=0.02). Sport practitioners reported higher competence than non-practitioners (F=7.95; p=0.00; η²=0.02); autonomy and relatedness showed no significant differences. - Sport type and BPN satisfaction: Significant multivariate effect (Wilks' Lambda; F=1.01; p<0.05; η²=0.01, small). Post hoc indicated competence was highest among those practicing both individual and collective sports, followed by collective, then individual, and lowest among non-practitioners (Tukey: c>b>a>d; p<0.05). Autonomy and relatedness differences by sport type were not significant.

Findings address the study questions by showing that both higher daily time on social networks and a greater number of networks used are consistently associated with elevated indicators of addiction risk (addiction-symptoms, social-use, geek-traits, and to a lesser extent nomophobia). This aligns with prior evidence that time online increases addiction risk and suggests that multi-platform engagement may compound this risk via increased total exposure. Contrary to the initial expectation that sport would broadly reduce addiction risk, overall sport participation did not significantly differentiate addiction risk; however, sport modality mattered: collective sport participation was linked to higher addiction-symptoms compared to individual sports, consistent with literature suggesting individual sports may foster greater self-regulation that can buffer against addictive behaviors. Regarding BPNs, social network use (time and number of platforms) did not significantly influence competence, autonomy, or relatedness in this sample, diverging from some past studies reporting online satisfaction of needs; descriptively, lower use tended to align with slightly higher BPN satisfaction. In contrast, sport participation significantly enhanced competence satisfaction, particularly when students practiced both individual and collective sports. These results underscore the nuanced roles of behavior domains: digital engagement appears primarily related to addiction risk, while sport engagement supports need satisfaction, especially competence. The implications suggest that interventions targeting reduced excessive social media time and encouraging diverse sport participation may jointly mitigate addiction risk and bolster psychological need fulfillment.

The study contributes evidence that greater daily time on social networks and using more platforms are associated with higher risk indicators of social network addiction among university students. General sport participation did not significantly lower addiction risk, but collective sport was associated with higher addiction-symptoms relative to individual sport. Social network use did not significantly affect BPN satisfaction, whereas sport participation—especially engaging in both individual and collective sports—was associated with higher competence satisfaction. These findings support promoting active alternatives (sport) to reduce excessive social media use and to enhance competence. Future research should: (1) include broader sociodemographic/contextual variables (e.g., family structure, parental occupation, parenting styles, peers’ lifestyles, study load); (2) examine differences by gender and across life stages beyond university age; and (3) employ designs beyond self-report cross-sections (e.g., longitudinal, experimental) to infer causality and mechanisms.

- Sample restricted to Spanish university students, limiting generalizability to other ages and nationalities. - Cross-sectional, self-report design may introduce biases (e.g., social desirability, recall) and precludes causal inference. - Potentially important contextual variables were not measured (e.g., parenting styles, peer norms and routines, academic workload), which could confound associations.