Highlights
- •Netlessphobia and age variables were determined as the factors affecting nomophobia.
- •In the study, netlessphobia had a considerably higher effect on nomophobia (91 %).
- •The superimposed effect of netlessphobia and age variables on nomophobia was determined as 85 %.
Abstract
Aims
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.
Methods
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.
Results
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 %.
Conclusion
Netlessphobia and age are the factors that are strongly associated with nomophobia.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 21, 2023
Accepted:
April 18,
2023
Received in revised form:
February 26,
2023
Received:
September 4,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
