Objectives Nomophobia, an abbreviation of “No mobile phone phobia”, is characterized by the illogical fear of being detached from the mobile phone or unable to use it. Research have provided evidence of an association between increased cellular phone use and multiple health issues, such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and others. To our knowledge, there are no Lebanese studies about nomophobia, despite the high incorporation rate of mobile phones in Lebanon and the likelihood of suffering from anxiety, depression, and other conditions due to nomophobic attitudes. The study objectives were to validate and confirm psychometric properties of the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) and examine the associations between particular psychological conditions (anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia and impulsivity) and nomophobia among a representative sample of Lebanese people. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out between January and July 2019. It enrolled 2260 residents of the community randomly selected from Lebanon’s Mohafazat. Two villages per sub-district and households from each village were chosen using a random sampling technique. A questionnaire was distributed randomly to the households. SPSS version 25 was used to perform the statistical analysis. A multinomial regression was computed taking the nomophobia categories as the dependent variable (and taking the absence of nomophobia as the reference category) and all variables that showed a significant association in the bivariate analysis as independent variables. Results A total of 2260 (80.71%) out of 2800 questionnaires distributed was collected back. The mean age of the participants was 27.98 ± 9.66 years (58.8% females). Moreover, the mean nomophobia score was 71.56 ± 26.92 (median = 71; minimum = 14; maximum = 140). The results showed that 46 (2.0%) had no nomophobia, 769 (34.1%) mild nomophobia [95% CI 0.322–0.361], 1089 (48.3%) moderate nomophobia [95% CI 0.463–0.504] and 349 (15.5%) severe nomophobia [95% CI 0.140–0.170]. Items of the nomophobia scale converged over a solution of three factors that had an Eigenvalue over 1 (Factor 1 = emotions associated to losing connectedness, Factor 2 = not being able to communicate, Factor 3 = not being able to access information; total variance explained = 66.65%, and Cronbach’s alpha = 0.948). The results of a multinomial regression, taking the nomophobia score as the dependent variable, showed that higher age was significantly associated with lower odds of having mild (aOR = 0.97), moderate (aOR = 0.93) and severe (aOR = 0.97) nomophobia respectively. Higher anxiety (aOR = 1.09) and higher insomnia (aOR = 1.04) were significantly associated with higher odds of having severe nomophobia. Conclusion The results suggest a positive correlation between nomophobia and psychological conditions. There is a need for longitudinal and prospective studies that furnish information with regards of the impact of time on the variables measured, in order to better understand the nature, causes, and attributes of nomophobia.
Objective: To create a Lebanese Depression Scale (LDS) and evaluate its performance on a group of Lebanese individuals. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis enrolled 997 residents (January-December 2018).Results: The elements in the Lebanese Depression Scale-19 items (LDS-19) scale converged over a combination of four factors (α Cronbach = .864). The correlation was positive between the LDS-19 and both the Hamilton Anxiety Scale score (r = .637; P < .001) and Lebanese Anxiety Scale score (r = .694; P < .001). According to the receiver-operating characteristics curve, the optimal score for the LDS-19 scale, which was a cutoff between healthy controls and depressive patients, was 18.50 (80.3% and 75.8%, respectively); the scale's positive predictive value was 31.0%, while the negative predictive value was 96.5%.
The Lebanese economic crisis, financial crisis, and USD shortage were conducive to an increased drug addiction especially for students who feel that their future in Lebanon is not safe, as well as the psychological fragility of the Lebanese people, and the more permissive sociocultural context. Our study aimed to assess the addiction levels and profiles of university students in Lebanon, and thus to evaluate the rapid rising in dependence regarding smoking, alcohol, and illegal drug use during this crisis. This cross-sectional study was carried out between February and September 2020. A total of 467 participants (315 females, 152 males; Mage = 23.48 ± 6.03) were recruited through convenience sampling through several universities in Lebanon's governorates. Participants received the online link to the survey. Students were divided into three clusters as follows: cluster 1, which corresponds to students with moderate addictions; cluster 2, which corresponds to students with high addictions; and cluster 3, which corresponds to students with low addictions. When comparing cluster 1 to cluster 3, the results of the multinomial regression showed that older age (aOR=1.08) and having a high monthly income compared to no income (aOR=2.78) were significantly associated with higher odds of being in cluster 1 compared to cluster 3. When comparing cluster 2 to cluster 3, the results of the multinomial regression showed that female gender (aOR=0.19) was significantly associated with lower odds of being in cluster 2 compared to cluster 3, whereas having a dead (aOR=16.38) or divorced parent (aOR=6.54) and having a low (aOR=3.93) or intermediate income compared to zero income (aOR=4.71) were significantly associated with higher odds of being in cluster 2 compared to cluster 3. The results of our study revealed a considerable prevalence of addiction to alcohol, illicit drugs, and specially to smoking, among Lebanese university students. These findings emphasize the need to implement firm policies and rules in an attempt to minimize the tendency of the young population to engage in such addictions.
Objectives Assess the association between nomophobia and temperaments in the Lebanese population. Methods The cross‐sectional study was conducted between January and July 2019 (N = 2260). Results A total of 1089 of the participants (48.3%) appeared to have moderate nomophobia while 349 (15.5%) were found to exhibit severe nomophobia. Multivariable analysis showed that higher hyperthymic temperament (β = −0.34) was associated with less nomophobia, whereas higher irritable temperament (β = 0.43) was associated with more nomophobia. Practical implications The findings obtained from our study showed that a more irritable temperament was significantly associated with a more severe nomophobia, while hyperthymic temperament was associated with less nomophobia. They open up new perspectives for the evaluation of the temperaments among nomophobics with a better focus on the personality model and how they can predict nomophobia.
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