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

Abstract

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.

COVID-19 Lockdown Stress and the Mental Health of College Students: A Cross-Sectional Survey in China

“…For example, research confirmed that stress furth promotes inappropriate mobile phone use among Chinese college students via FoMO [1 Wang et al [21] suggested that FoMO partially mediates the effects of stress on onl gaming disorders. Ergin and Ozer [20] showed a significant partial mediating role FoMO between social detachment and phobia. Some studies have confirmed the medi ing role of FoMO regarding the effect of social engagement on subjective well-being [1 Based on the above discussion, we suggested that COVID-19 lockdown stress mig impact college students' mental health through FoMO, and hypothesis 2 was propos COVID-19 lockdown stress was significantly positively correlated with FoMO; FoMO w significantly negatively correlated with mental health; and FoMO plays a mediating r between the COVID-19 lockdown stress and college students' mental health.…”

“…Wang et al [21] suggested that FoMO partially mediates the effects of stress on online gaming disorders. Ergin and Ozer [20] showed a significant partial mediating role of FoMO between social detachment and phobia. Some studies have confirmed the mediating role of FoMO regarding the effect of social engagement on subjective well-being [19].…”

“…FoMO has often been discussed as an essential mediator in recent studies on str or psychological problems [18][19][20][21]. For example, research confirmed that stress furth promotes inappropriate mobile phone use among Chinese college students via FoMO [1 Wang et al [21] suggested that FoMO partially mediates the effects of stress on onl gaming disorders.…”

“…A systematic literature review from 2002-2020 found that FoMO was extremely closely related to mental health [17] and was a crucial influencing factor for mental health [14]. During the COVID-19 lockdown, numerous studies on stress or psychological problems have discussed FoMO as a critical mediating variable [18][19][20][21]. Therefore, this study explored the mediating role of FoMO between COVID-19 lockdown stress and college students' mental health.…”

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

“…Specifically, in adolescents and young adults nomophobia is more common. 9,[21][22][23] In fact, the prevalence of nomophobia among university students is on the order of 100%. A recent metaanalysis confirmed that 25% of college students had mild nomophobia, over 50% had moderate nomophobia, and about 20% had severe nomophobia.…”