Evaluation of factors strongly associated with nomophobia using structural equation modelling: A cross-sectional study

Netlessphobia (fear of being without the Internet) and nomophobia (fear of being without a smartphone/mobile phone) causes anxiety, discomfort, distress or nervousness during non-use of phones. Past studies assessing factors associated with nomophobia have not reported consistent results, and some uncertainties persist. Moreover, only a few studies have measured nomophobia among the general population, and no study has evaluated nomophobia and netlessphobia together. This cross-sectional study determined the factors strongly associated with nomophobia, with an intent toward reducing nomophobia-related negative consequences.

The study sample included 523 individuals. 'Demographic Characteristics Form', 'Fırat Nomophobia Scale' and 'Fırat Netlessphobia Scale' were used as data collection tools. The collected data were analysed using SPSS 26 and AMOS 23. Structural equation modelling was used for predicting factors associated with nomophobia, and the goodness-of-fit values of this model were investigated.

The variables netlessphobia, age, gender, marital status, education level, average time of daily use and average number of daily checks of smart devices were included in the estimated baseline model of the study. Among the independent variables with significant standardised regression coefficients in the model, the effect of 'netlessphobia' (91 %) was quite high. The effect of age variable, which was a significant contributor to netlessphobia in the model, was 15 %.

Netlessphobia and age are the factors that are strongly associated with nomophobia.