The role of nomophobia and smartphone addiction in the lifestyle profiles of junior and senior high school students in the Philippines

Tackling nomophobia: the influence of support systems and organizational practices

This study investigates the growing issue of nomophobia, characterized by the anxiety of being without a mobile phone, in the workplace. Utilizing the broaden-and-build theory, this research examines the impact of supportive leadership, co-worker support, Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, and affective commitment on reducing nomophobia among employees. Data were collected from 393 employees across various educational organizations. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings reveal that supportive leadership significantly reduces nomophobia by enhancing HRM practices and affective commitment. However, contrary to expectations, co-worker support was found to increase nomophobia, suggesting that informal communication and social interactions via mobile devices might exacerbate smartphone dependency. HRM practices emerged as a critical factor in mitigating nomophobia, more so than affective commitment. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the complex dynamics of workplace relationships and offering practical insights for organizations aiming to reduce nomophobia and improve employee well-being.

Attachment Anxiety and Nomophobia: A Moderated Parallel Mediation Model

Nomophobia is the state of being anxious or disturbed when feeling disconnected from the digital world and can have a significant impact on individuals' health and well-being. Drawing upon attachment theory and the previous literature on nomophobia, this study aims to understand how attachment anxiety influences nomophobia and whether this relationship differs between males and females. In the Human Penguin Project (HPP) (N = 1221; 12 countries; participants aged ≥20 years), the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire-Revised (ECR-R), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) were used to assess attachment anxiety, alexithymia, perceived stress, and nomophobia, respectively. The results demonstrated that (1) there were significant positive correlations between attachment anxiety, nomophobia, alexithymia, and perceived stress. Additionally, (2) there was a direct and significant effect of attachment anxiety on nomophobia, and alexithymia and perceived stress partially mediated this relationship. Finally, (3) gender significantly moderated the relationship between attachment anxiety and nomophobia. Specifically, the predicted effect was significant in both males and females, but the direct effect of attachment anxiety and nomophobia was stronger in males.

Hooked on technology: examining the co-occurrence of nomophobia and impulsive sensation seeking among nursing students

BACKGROUND

Nomophobia, the crippling fear of being disconnected from mobile devices, is a burgeoning global concern. Given the critical nature of the profession of nursing students, understanding nomophobia's prevalence and potential impacts on patient care and professional conductors becomes even more crucial.

AIM

This study explores the relationship between nomophobia and impulsive sensation-seeking among nursing students in Egypt.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A multicenter cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1626 nursing students randomly selected from three universities across Egypt.

TOOLS

The Arabic versions of the Nomophobia and Impulsive Sensation Seeking Questionnaires were employed to gather data.

RESULTS

Our findings revealed that 40.3% of the surveyed nursing students exhibited severe nomophobia, indicating a substantial dependence on their mobile devices. Notably, this high prevalence was accompanied by a strong tendency towards impulsive sensation-seeking behaviors. Furthermore, a stepwise regression analysis identified several significant predictors of nomophobia (p < 0.001). Impulsive sensation-seeking, year of study, average daily smartphone usage, and age emerged as key factors, explaining 27.5% of the variability in nomophobia scores.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of nomophobia among Egyptian nursing students is undeniable, highlighting their substantial reliance on mobile devices. A significant association with impulsive sensation-seeking behavior further compounds this dependence. Factors such as impulsive sensation seeking, year of study, average daily smartphone usage, and age were identified as significant predictors of nomophobia. Recognizing these factors as key predictors of nomophobia is crucial for designing effective interventions and psychotherapies. Prioritizing such interventions can promote future nurses' well-being and ensure they deliver the highest quality care to their patients.

Association between nutrient intake from vegetables and BMI category of in-school adolescents in urban and rural areas in Davao City, Philippines

Consumption of vegetables may contribute to alleviating the double burden of malnutrition, which is widespread among adolescents. However, the link between specific nutrient intakes from vegetables and the body mass index (BMI) of in-school adolescents is not widely studied. This study determined the association between the nutrient intakes from the vegetables consumed and the BMI category of in-school adolescents in urban and rural areas in Davao City, Philippines. Self-reported vegetable consumption was collected from the respondents, and the corresponding nutrient intakes were calculated using the USDA food composition tables. The BMI of the participating adolescents was also measured. The results show that being underweight or overweight is generally associated with lower macronutrient and micronutrient intakes from the vegetables consumed, namely, bell pepper, bitter gourd, cabbage, carrot, chayote, Chinese cabbage, cucumber, eggplant, Malabar spinach, moringa, mung bean, okra, potato, sponge gourd, squash, string beans, sweet potato, sweet potato tops, taro, tomato, water spinach (P < 0.05). The nutrient intakes from vegetables consumed by adolescents from urban households were generally higher. The findings highlight the contribution of vegetables to the nutrient intakes in the adolescent population. This study reinforces the need for targeted dietary guidelines and further promotion of vegetables, especially indigenous ones, to improve the nutritional status of adolescents in the Philippines.

Effects of smartphone addiction on cognitive function and physical activity in middle-school children: a cross-sectional study

Introduction

This study aimed to investigate the effects of smartphone addiction on cognitive function and physical activity in middle-school children.

Methods

A population of 196 children (boys and girls) from middle schools were recruited for this study with an average age of 12.99 ± 0.81 years, a height of 153.86 ± 6.50 meters, a weight of 48.07 ± 7.31 kilograms, and a body mass index of 20.22 ± 2.08 kg/m2. Smartphone addiction was determined using Arabic versions of the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, and physical activity levels were assessed by a physical activity questionnaire for older children. The working memory and selective attention domains of cognitive function were evaluated using a laptop screen's digital version of the memory automaticity and Flanker tasks, respectively. A one-way MANOVA was conducted to determine the differences in working memory between the smartphone-addicted and non-addicted groups. The relationship between smartphone addiction and physical activity was analyzed using Pearson's chi-squared test.

Results

The cognitive function-attention domain accuracy component showed a statistically significant difference between the groups, with a p-value of 0.05). The reaction time between smartphone-addicted and non-addicted children showed no statistically significant difference (p = 0.817). The relationship between smartphone addiction and physical activity was statistically significant (p < 0.001).

Discussion

The interaction effects between physical activity and smartphone addiction on reaction times showed statistically insignificant (p = 0.25) differences, showing that physical activity's effect on reaction times did not depend on smartphone addiction levels. The non-addicted children had significantly higher physical activity levels than the addicted children, indicating that smartphone addiction reduced physical activity.

Nomophobia among university students in five Arab countries in the Middle East: prevalence and risk factors

BACKGROUND

Excessive use of mobile phones leading to development of symptoms suggestive of dependence syndrome with teenagers are far more likely to become dependent on mobile phones as compared to adults. COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the mental health of several groups in society, especially university students. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of mobile phone dependence among university students and its associated factors.

METHODS

Between September 2021 and January 2022, a cross-sectional study was conducted at universities in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia utilizing an online and paper-based self-administered questionnaire. We employed a previously developed questionnaire by Aggarwal et al. RESULTS: A total of 5,720 university students were involved in this study (Egypt = 2813, Saudi Arabia = 1509, Jordan = 766, Lebanon = 432, and Bahrain = 200). The mean estimated daily time spent on using mobile phone was 186.4 (94.4) minutes. The highest mobile dependence score was observed for the university students from Egypt and the lowest mobile dependence score was observed for the university students from Lebanon. The most common dependence criteria across the study sample was impaired control (55.6%) and the least common one was harmful use (25.1%). Females and those reported having anxiety problem or using a treatment for anxiety were at higher risk of developing mobile phone dependence by 15% and 75%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Mobile phone dependence is common among university students in Arab countries in the Middle East region. Future studies exploring useful interventions to decrease mobile phone dependence are warranted.

Nomophobia and smartphone addiction amidst COVID-19 home confinement: the parallel mediating role of digital gaming and social media tools usage across secondary school students

Introduction

With the inevitable technological boom enforced by the COVID-19 lockdowns and online emergency remote teaching practices, the prevalence of nomophobia (NMP) and smartphone addiction (SA) among adolescents has become a pressing issue, which has come under scrutiny. However, the impact of social media tools usage (SMTU) and digital gaming behavior (DGB) on these phenomena remains unclear since there is little research focusing on the complex interplay among these variables. Regarding this context, the present study aimed to explore the parallel mediating role of secondary school students' SMTU and DGB in the relation between NMP and SA.

Methods

In line with this aim, we employed a cross-sectional design with a critical case sampling strategy and collected data through an online survey from a total of 427 secondary school students in Istanbul in the 2021-2022 academic year. In order to test the parallel mediation model, we employed multiple linear regression models by utilizing PROCESS models with 5000 BC bootstrap samples and 95% CI.

Results and discussion

Results illustrated that there was an increase in the prevalence of NMP and SA during the COVID-19 home confinement as consistent with the previous research. The results also indicated that among the multiple mediators, the mediating role of SMTU was significant in the relation between NMP and SA. This means NMP has direct and indirect significant impact on SA through SMTU. However, the mediating role of DGB was found nonsignificant in this relationship. Our results are robust and hold key contributions to both theoria and praxis in educational psychology research realm by disentangling the complex underlying mechanism between NMP, SMTU, DGB, and SA. On the practical side, our results provide insightful implications for school boards and researchers in the development of effective interventions.

Unravelling the Relation Between Fear of Missing Out, Time Spent on the Phone, Sex, Alienation, and Nomophobia

The prevalence of nomophobia is growing among adolescents. This study aimed to disentangle the relationship between nomophobia, the fear of missing out, time spent on the phone, sex, and social alienation. Participants, who were 595 students (313 females and 282 males) attending high school during the 2019-2020 academic year, filled out personal information forms and a series of scales involving nomophobia, the fear of missing out, and social alienation. Then, data were analyzed through a moderated mediation analysis. The results showed that the bivariate correlation was significant but not the direct effect of gender on nomophobia; still, other direct effects were significant. The partial indirect effect of the fear of missing out on nomophobia was only significant for females when social alienation was controlled for. In the model where nomophobia was the outcome model, the power values for the time spent on the phone and its interaction with sex were low but high for other factors. Furthermore, the effect size was small for the model where the mediator was the outcome and high for the model that had nomophobia as the outcome. Thus, it is crucial to consider that the motives underlying the fear of missing out and nomophobia differ between the sexes in planning interventions.

The Impact of Smartphone Addiction on Chinese University Students' Physical Activity: Exploring the Role of Motivation and Self-Efficacy

Background

Previous studies showed that smartphone addiction (SA) can lead to reduced physical activity (PA), but only a few studies have explored the impact of SA from psychological perspective closely related to PA. This study aimed to examine the extrinsic and partial psychological factors leading to decrease in PA using structural equation modelling analysis.

Methods

We conducted an online survey on 628 males and 1159 female students from 10 universities in Henan Province, China, through a questionnaire survey application “Questionnaire Star”. This study used three models to test the mediating effects of three types of motives (intrinsic motives, body-related motives, and social motives) and self-efficacy, respectively, in the relationship between smartphone addiction and physical activities.

Results

Our result confirmed that smartphone addiction leads to lower physical activities. Secondly, self-efficacy mediates smartphone addiction and physical activities, but the mediating effect of all three types of motivation is not significant. Thirdly, smartphone addiction did not affect intrinsic motivation and body-related motivation, but positively affects social motivation. Finally, as the motivation type changes from internal to external, the mediating effect of self-efficacy becomes stronger.

Conclusion

This study showed that smartphone addiction lead to increase social motivation and decreased self-efficacy, and is a potential barrier to personal participation in physical activities. Our findings provide a new perspective for future design physical activities interventions in China and worldwide especially among university students where smartphone addiction is a problem.

The mobile phone addiction index: Cross gender measurement invariance in adolescents

The Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI) is a short instrument to assess mobile phone addiction. The Chinese version of this scale has been widely used in Chinese students and shows promising psychometric characteristics. The present study tested the construct validity and measurement invariance of the MPAI by gender in middle school adolescents. The data were collected from 1,395 high school students (females, n = 646; M age = 15.3 years). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multiple-group CFA (MG-CFA) for invariance tests were conducted on the MPAI model which consisted of 17 observed items and 4 latent factors. Findings showed that the data fit the four-factor structure model well for both males and females. Furthermore, configural, metric, scalar, and residual invariance were established by gender. The results indicated that the MPAI has acceptable psychometric properties when used in adolescents. In addition, with the strict invariance requirements being satisfied, the underlying factor scores for MPAI can be meaningfully compared across genders. To our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to test the measurement invariance of the MPAI across male and female adolescents. Our results will support future research on mobile phone addiction in adolescents.

Smartphone Addiction Prevalence and Its Association on Academic Performance, Physical Health, and Mental Well-Being among University Students in Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Saudi Arabia

Smartphone use can lead to smartphone addiction, which is a growing concern worldwide. However, there are limited studies about smartphone addiction and its impacts on university students in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to fill this gap. This is a quantitative study conducted among undergraduate students in Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Saudi Arabia from May 2019 and February 2021. Study data were collected using both online and hard copy administered surveys. A self-administered questionnaire, Grade point average, Smartphone Addiction Short Version, and Kessler Psychological Distress scales were used to assess the outcomes. A total of 545 undergraduate students, mostly females, aged ≤21 years old and lived with large family sizes. More than half owned a smartphone for 5–8 years and the majority used their smartphone on average 6–11 h per day for social networking (82.6%), entertainment (66.2%) and web surfing (59.6%). Most of the participants were smartphone-addicted (67.0%). Logistic regression analysis showed that age ≤ 21, not gainfully employed, small family size and high family income were the main significant socio-demographic predictors of smartphone addiction. Smartphone-addicted participants were more likely to: have lower academic performance (GPA); be physically inactive; have poor sleep; be overweight/obese; have pain in their shoulder (39.2%), eyes (62.2%) and neck (67.7%) and have a serious mental illness (30.7%). This finding has significant implications for decision makers and suggests that smartphone education focusing on the physical and mental health consequences of smartphone addiction among university students can be beneficial.

Examination of the relationship between smartphone addiction and cyberchondria in adolescents

In this descriptive and correlational study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between adolescents' smartphone addiction and cyberchondria. Data were obtained from 384 adolescent high school students in Istanbul between December 2020 and January 2021, using a Personal Information Form, the Smartphone Addiction Scale, and Cyberchondria Severity Scale. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews with the students. The adolescents' smartphone use duration was 3.67 ± 1.66 years. Almost all (97.9%) connected to the internet via smartphones and 39.3% spent 3-4 h per day on the internet. It was determined that 61.7% of them checked their phones as soon as they woke up in the morning and 75.3% of them before going to bed in the evening. For those whose smartphone use duration is high, their cyberchondria also increases. The authors suggest that nurses should understand smartphone addiction and cyberchondria to identify and apply nursing interventions when necessary in adolescents.

The Association between Smartphone Addiction and Insomnia Incidence in Students of the Faculty of Medicine Udayana University Batch of 2020 during the Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND: The use of smartphones is increasing in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic for various purposes, this encourages smartphone addiction. In addition, the incidence of insomnia has also increased in the pandemic era. AIM: This study was conducted to find an association between smartphone addiction and the incidence of insomnia, especially among students of the Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University. METHOD: This research is a descriptive-analytic study with the cross-sectional method, using two main questionnaires, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, and Insomnia Severity Index. Questionnaires were distributed using Google forms and then collected and analyzed using software SPSS version 25. RESULT: Overall the total research respondents with the inclusion criteria in this study amounted to 364 people. The results showed that 212 respondents (58.24%) had a high level of smartphone addiction and 152 respondents (41.76%) had a low level of smartphone addiction. In addition, 187 respondents (51.37%) experienced mild insomnia, 87 respondents (23.9%) experienced moderate insomnia, 13 respondents (3.57%) experienced severe insomnia, and 77 respondents (21.15%) did not experience insomnia. Based on the results of data analysis, it was found that smartphone addiction had a significant relationship (p = 0.002) with weak and positive correlation (r = 0.162) to the incidence of insomnia. CONCLUSION: It was found that the majority of respondents experienced high levels of smartphone addiction and mild insomnia. Another finding suggests the higher addiction to the smartphones, the more severe insomnia suffered.

Nomophobia in Late Childhood and Early Adolescence: the Development and Validation of a New Interactive Electronic Nomophobia Test

The widely spread dependence on smartphones by children, adolescents, and adults has shoved researchers to assess its impact on the wellbeing of individuals. Nomophobia, the fear of being out of cellular contact, was typically assessed by self-report measures or proxy measures in adolescents and older adults. The goal of the current study was to examine nomophobia in late childhood and adolescence using scenario-based vignettes that are interactively presented and mediated by computers. To fulfill this goal, the Interactive Electronic Nomophobia Test (IENT), comprising of five scenario-based vignettes, was developed and administered to 1211 students aged between 10 and 18 years and enrolled in grades 5–12. The IENT psychometric properties were examined using a series of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Additionally, the study examined the clustering nomophobia symptoms in a nationally representative sample of Omani students and explored the association of these Nomophobia symptoms with both students’ grade and gender. Results of the study provided evidence of the four-pronged structure of the IENT, and an overall all composite nomophobia score, with strong associations found among the subscales, and between each of the four subscales and Nomophobia composite score. Invariance tests found significantly different model results by gender in all cases. Finally, cluster analysis revealed two to three clusters, with significant associations between gender, class, and cluster type. Implications of the study are discussed in view of previous literature on the assessment of nomophobia and smartphone addiction.

Relationship between "nomophobia" and material addiction "cigarette" and factors affecting them

Since technological devices used for communication affect communication between people, nomophobia is a disorder of a new age. In this study, we discuss the relationship between nomophobia and smoking addiction and the factors affecting them. The Demographic Information Form and Nomophobia Scale (NMP-Q), ıf they were smoking we applied The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) Scales were directed among students (n = 641) at Süleyman Demirel University studying Medicine, Dental, Nursing and Physiotherapy departments in the 1st and 4th grades. Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis test to compare the scores of the variables with more groups. Correlation analysis was performed between the NMP-Q and Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence Scale scores by Spearman correlation. Bonferroni test applied as Post Hoc test for multiple comparisons of groups. In our study, 267 (42.6%) of participants who had nomophobia refuse to be dependent and smartphone addiction level was found to be 99.69 for all students. Responses were received from 73.2% (n = 469) female and 26.8% (n = 172) male participants. There is no significant difference between smokers in terms of factors in nomophobia (P > .05). The total score of the questionnaire (P < .01*) by gender and averages scores of women were higher in all mentioned sub-dimensions and total scores. In our study, there was no correlation between nomophobia and cigarette addiction because of the low number of smokers participating in our survey. Therefore, new conflicts with wider audiences are needed to examine the relationship between these two addictions.