Indian Journal of Private Psychiatry

Register      Login

VOLUME 17 , ISSUE 2 ( July-December, 2023 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

Prevalence of Nomophobia and Analysis of Its Contributing Factors among Higher Education Students

Subodh Kumar

Keywords : Anxiety, College students, Higher education, Nomophobia, Smartphone addiction

Citation Information : Kumar S. Prevalence of Nomophobia and Analysis of Its Contributing Factors among Higher Education Students. Ind J Priv Psychiatry 2023; 17 (2):68-73.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10067-0150

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 14-06-2023

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2023; The Author(s).


Abstract

This study aimed to assess nomophobia (NMP), a condition of fear of being without a mobile phone, among college students who are the main users of mobile phones. It is observed that students try to explore the features and applications of a new invention and feel the need to stay connected with their peers constantly, leading to addiction. Data from 200 college students were collected using Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q). This study showed that 12% of the participants had a mild level of NMP, 48% had a moderate level of NMP, and 40% had severe NMP. The male participants had comparatively higher NMP than female participants; postgraduate (PG) students had comparatively higher NMP than undergraduate (UG) students; Medical students had higher NMP; and other Science students had the lowest NMP. t-test revealed no significant difference in NMP between male and female participants (t = 1.33, p > 0.05). However, there was a significant difference in NMP between UG and PG students (t = –2.667, p < 0.01). Analysis of variance test revealed no significant difference in NMP among Arts, Engineering, Medical, and Science students (F = 0.187, p >0.05). Pearson's correlation coefficient of age and NMP showed a strong significant positive relationship between age and NMP of the students (r = 0.227, p < 0.01). These findings suggest that there is a need for innovative solutions to address the mental health challenges faced by college students due to excessive smartphone use. Educators, mental health professionals, and policymakers can use these findings to develop effective interventions and programs to address NMP and its impact on mental health.


HTML PDF Share
  1. SecurEnvoy (2012). 66% of the population suffer from nomophobia the fear of being without their phone. Retrieved on 04 Feb 2023 from https://securenvoy.com/blog/66-population-suffer-nomophobia-fear-being-without-their-phone-2/.
  2. Yildirim C, Correia A-P. Exploring the dimensions of nomophobia: Development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire. Comput Human Behav 2015;49:130–137. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.059.
  3. Gezgin D, Cakir O, Yildirim S. The relationship between levels of nomophobia prevalence and internet addiction among high school students: The factors influencing Nomophobia. Int J Res Educ Sci 2018;4(1):215–225. DOI: 10.21890/ijres.383153.
  4. Sharma N, Sharma P, Sharma N. et al. Rising concern of Nomophobia amongst Indian medical students. Int J Res Med Sci 2015;3(3):705–707. DOI: 10.5455/2320-6012.ijrms20150333.
  5. Sukhdeep K, Maheshwari SK, Preksha S. Narcissistic personality and selfie taking behavior among college students. Int J Med Health Res 2018;4(5):56–60. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-585880.
  6. King AL, Valença AM, Nardi AE. Nomophobia: The mobile phone in panic disorder with agoraphobia: Reducing phobias or worsening of dependence? Cogn Behav Neurol 2010;23(1):52–55. DOI: 10.1097/WNN.0b013e3181b7eabc.
  7. Kumar S, Kumar P, Singh T. Emerging technological trends and human cognition: A review. J Disabil Manage Rehabil 2020;6(1):23–29. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4165065.
  8. Kumar S, Kartikey D, Singh T. Impact of technology on various aspects of human life during Covid-19 pandemic: A survey. J Psychosoc Res 2021;16(1):127–142. DOI: 10.32381/JPR.2021.16.01.12.
  9. Abraham N, Mathias J, Williams S. A study to assess the knowledge and effect of Nomophobia among students of selected degree colleges in Mysore. Asian J Nurs Edu Res 2014;4(4):421.
  10. Dixit S, Shukla H, Bhagwat A, et al. A study to evaluate mobile phone dependence among students of a medical college and associated hospital of central India. Ind J Commun Med 2010;35(2):339. DOI: 10.4103/0970-0218.66878.
  11. Kaur A, Sharma P. A descriptive study to assess the risk of developing Nomophobia among students of selected nursing colleges Ludhiana, Punjab. Int J Psychiatr Nurs 2015;1(2):1–6. DOI: 10.5958/2395-180X.2015.00051.1.
  12. Bianchi A, Phillips JG. Psychological predictors of problem mobile phone use. Cyberpsychol Behav 2005;8(1):39–51. DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2005.8.39.
  13. Ozdemir B, Cakir O, Hussain I. Prevalence of nomophobia among university students: A comparative study of Pakistani and Turkish undergraduate students. Eurasia J Math Sci Technol Ed 2018;14(4): 1519–1532. DOI: 10.29333/ejmste/84839.
  14. Jeong SH, Lee MJ. Mobile phone usage behaviors of Korean university students: Prevalence, patterns, and relationships with health outcomes. J Korean Med Sci 2015;30(6):758–763. DOI: 10.3346/jkms.2015.30.6.758.
  15. Alosaimi FD, Alyahya H, Alshahwan H, et al. Smartphone addiction among university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Med J 2016;37(6):675–683. DOI: 10.15537/smj.2016.6.14979.
  16. Kuss DJ, Griffiths MD, Binder JF. Internet addiction in students: Prevalence and risk factors. Comput Human Behav 2013;29(3): 959–966. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.024.
  17. Al-Hariri MT, Al-Hattami AA. The impact of social media on the academic development of school students in Saudi Arabia. J Ed Soc Res 2015;5(2):225–238. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2015.v5n2p225.
  18. Setia R, Tiwari S. A study on NOMOPHOBIA among youth in Indian perspective. Int J Indian Psychol 2021;9(1):688–707. DIP: 18.01.074/20210901, DOI: 10.25215/0901.074.
  19. Qutishat M, Lazarus ER, Razmy AM, et al. University students’ nomophobia prevalence, sociodemographic factors and relationship with academic performance at a University in Oman. Int J Africa Nurs Sci 2020;13:100206. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijans.2020.100206.
  20. Ahmed S, Pokhrel N, Roy S, et al. Impact of nomophobia: A nondrug addiction among students of physiotherapy course using an online cross-sectional survey. Indian J Psychiatr 2019;61(1):77–80. DOI: 10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_361_18.
  21. Than W, Shan P. Prevalence of nomophobia among undergraduate students from Sagaing University of Education 2021;1:54–76. DOI: 10.53378/346475.
  22. Essel HB, Vlachopoulos D, Tachie-Menson A. The relationship between the nomophobic levels of higher education students in Ghana and academic achievement. PLOS ONE 2021;16(6):e0252880. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252880.
  23. Toda M, Monden K, Kubo T, et al. Gender differences in mobile phone use: What is driving these differences? J Human Ergol 2006;35(2): 63–70.
  24. Yildirim C, Sumuer E, Adnan M, et al. A growing fear: Prevalence of nomophobia among Turkish college students. Inform Dev 2016;32(5):1322–1331. DOI: 10.1177/0266666915599025.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.