Psychometric Evidence of the Arabic Version of Nomophobia Questionnaire Among Physical Education Students

Abstract

Purpose Nomophobia refers to a psychological state in which individuals experience anxiety or fear at the thought of being disconnected from their mobile phone. The Nomophobia Questionnaire was developed to assess dimensions of nomophobia among native English-speaking populations. The purpose of this study was to adapt and validate the Nomophobia Questionnaire in the Tunisian context based on Western Arabic dialects. Methods This cross-sectional design using a non-probability sampling method was conducted from September 05 to October 06, 2022. A total of 644 participants, with an average age of 21.04 ± 1.59 years, completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and an Arabic version of the Nomophobia Questionnaire. Participants were divided into two groups to perform exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The first group consisted of 200 students (56% female and 44% male with an average age of 21.10 ± 1.64), with 33% (n = 66) freshmen, 41.5% second-year students (n = 83) and 25.5% (n = 51) of third-year students. The second group was collected one month later in the same establishment and was composed of 444 students (52% men and 48% female with an average age of 21.01 ± 1.57). Results The results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 20 items and the second order four-factor structure should be retained. Confirmatory factor analysis of the Arabic version of the NMP-Q gave the following statistics: χ2/df= 1.47; Fit Index = 0.997; Adjusted goodness-of-fit index = 0.996; Tucker-Lewis index = 1.003; Comparative Fit Index = 1; Root mean square error of approximation = 0.000 (90% CI 0–0) and standardized mean residual = 0.030, indicating good model fit. McDonald’s ω internal consistency indexes for the four factors, namely giving up convenience, not being able to access information, not being able to communicate, and losing connectedness were 0.821, 0.841, 0.851, and 0.897, respectively. These values demonstrated good scale consistency. Conclusion The Arabic Version of the Nomophobia questionnaire has been found to be a reliable and valid psychometric tool, and can be effectively used to measure nomophobia in countries where western Arabic dialects are spoken.

The relationship between nomophobia and psychological distress in Tunisian students: The moderating effect of physical activity

“…Physical activity has been demonstrated to be consistently and inversely associated with distress indicators in university students (9,10) . A cross-sectional study based on data from the Spanish National Health Survey 2017 involving 4195 participants showed that physical activity levels were linked to depression, anxiety and other mental health problems in Spanish youth (11).…”

Shaping North-African Public Health Decisions: A Latent Class Analysis of Social Media's Influence on Attitudes and Behaviors Towards COVID-19 Vaccines

“…This has hampered the efforts of scientists, medical professsionals and governments to communicate effectively about the virus. The stress and anxiety triggered by the pandemic can lead to overuse the internet for information and comfort, exacerbating social isolation issues [5,6]. As vaccination decisions are influenced not only by health considerations but also by psychological factors such as trust, perceived risks and online information [7] problematic internet use potentially contributes to the spread of misinformation and affects vaccine perceptions [8].…”