November 2018, Volume 5, Number 4 151 Research Paper: Motvatons to Use Mobile Virtual Social Networks and Their Related Social Capital Among College Students: A Cross-sectonal Study 1. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. 2. Department of Public Health, School of Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. 3. Department of Ergonomics, School of Health, Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan, University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. * Corresponding Author: Maryam Afshari, PhD. Address: Department of Public Health, School of Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran. Tel: +98 (81) 38380090 E-mail: afshari_m20@yahoo.com Introducton: Due to the increasing use of virtual networks and, on the other hand, ambiguites towards the positve or negatve efects of these networks on the level of social interacton and social capital of users. Objectves: This study aims to determine the relatonship between the motvaton to use virtual mobile networks and social capital among students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectonal study carried out on 350 students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2017. The partcipants were selected by a stratfed sampling method with the proportonal assignment. Data gathering tools included the demographic form and questonnaires of motvaton to use virtual networks and social capital. The subjects completed the tools through the self-reportng. The obtained data were analyzed by the Pearson correlaton test and linear regression in SPSS V. 24. Results: Most students (42.6%) used virtual networks 3-5 hours per day. Entertainment and pastme were the most reported reasons and motvatons for using the virtual networks among students with 59% and 58.8% of the maximum achievable score, respectvely. There was a positve and signifcant correlaton between bonding and bridging social capital and the rate of virtual network usage. Among the related factors studied, gender, natveness, self-disclosure, immersion in the media, pastme, informaton search, individual status, maintaining relatonships, entertainment, and linking social capital have signifcant roles in explaining the variance of the motvaton to use the virtual network among the students (P<0.05). Conclusion: Further research is needed in this area because students increasingly use virtual networks and they are unfamiliar with other aspects of these networks afectng their health and life. University counseling centers should provide the required training based on the facts for the students about the positve and negatve consequences of using virtual networks. A B S T R A C T Keywords: Internet, Social capital, Students, Iran Citation Barat M, Heidari-Moghis F, Moeini B, Babamiri M, Afshari M, Saat-Asr M, Kalantarnia G, Eslami S, Ostad-Abdollahpour A. Motvatons to Use Mobile Virtual Social Networks and Their Related Social Capital Among College Students: A Cross-sectonal Study. Avicenna J of Neuropsychophysiology. 2018; 5(4):151-158. htp://dx.doi.org/10.32598/ajnpp.4.3.265 htp://dx.doi.org/10.32598/ajnpp.4.3.265 Artcle info: Received: 24 Apr 2018 Accepted: 10 Sep 2018 Available Online: 01 Nov 2018 Majid Barat 1 , Fatemeh Heidari-Moghis 2 , Babak Moeini 1 , Mohammad Babamiri 3 , Maryam Afshari 2* , Mohammadhasan Saat-Asr 2 , Ghazaleh Kalantarnia 2 , Saba Eslami 2 , Atefe Ostad-Abdollahpour 2 Use your device to scan and read the artcle online