Does interpersonal sensitivity and paranoid ideation predict nomophobia: an analysis with a young adult sample

Abstract

Nomophobia has been studied extensively due to its negative effects on human health and psychology. In terms of clinical psychology, nomophobia has been linked consistently to depression and anxiety. Studies also investigated whether it is a dependency, an impulse control problem, an obsession or a phobia; however, no clear clinical representation was confirmed. Although it was proposed to be added as an official diagnosis to DSM-5, these attempts were inconclusive. In this study, nomophobia was examined clinically by SCL-90 factors. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed by controlling anxiety, depression, phobia and obsessions by putting them in the first step. At the next step, paranoid ideation was entered while interpersonal sensitivity was introduced at the last step. The variables were assigned according to the steps according to their connections confirmed by the literature, the correlation coefficients and β weights obtained in the current study. The hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that after controlling anxiety, depression, phobia and obsessions, nomophobia is explained by interpersonal sensitivity. Paranoid ideation is also an important variable in step 2, but it lost its significance in the last step. Nevertheless, it was thought that what makes people sensitive to interpersonal issues is a kind of fear of missing out others’ experiences (FoMO) which is related to nomophobia. This fear of missing out might prepare people to constantly check on mobile phones thinking paranoid about what they might have been missing or deprived of. Clinical implications and limitations were discussed.

Perspectives and Experiences of Smartphone Overuse among University Students in Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Analysis

“…However, staff participants cited the fear of losing online friends as a leading cause of overusing smartphones among students. These findings correspond with the findings of previous studies which concluded that social pressure [ 72 , 73 , 74 ] and fear of losing a connection [ 75 , 76 ] were triggers for smartphone addiction. For instance, a study conducted among 2820 Spanish smartphone users found that higher levels of social pressure were associated with higher levels of smartphone addiction [ 73 ].…”

The Mediating Role of Social Media Usage Habits in the Relationship Between FoMO and Nomophobia

“…As individuals' fear of missing out on updates increases, the fear they feel when they are away from their smartphones also increases. This finding is parallel to the results of the previous studies in the literature (Yılmaz & Bekaroğlu, 2021). In a study conducted by Shiva et al (2020), a high-level positive relationship is reported between FoMO and nomophobia.…”

The Influence of Self-Esteem and Psychological Flexibility on Medical College Students' Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Interpersonal sensitivity plays an important role in human mental health, and it has some negative impact on individual mental health and social adaptive functions ( 44 ). Additionally, it is also a susceptibility factor for many mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, paranoia, and compulsion ( 45 , 46 ). Thus, obsessive-compulsiveness and interpersonal sensitivity are negligible mental health problems among medical students.…”