The Phobia of the Modern World: Nomophobia: "Conceptualization of Nomophobia and Investigation of Associated Psychological Constructs"

By Dr. Özge Enez

In the modern world, the mobile phone has become an indispensable part of modern life. On the one hand, the mobile phone allows maintaining interpersonal contacts and fulfilling work or school duties regardless of time and location. It enables individuals to plan their daily routines and their free times. On the other hand, a mobile phone is a tool that can cause several psychological and physical problems. Nomophobia, which is considered the phobia of the modern era, is only one of these problems. In the simplest terms, nomophobia is the fear of being without a mobile phone and the intense anxiety and distress experienced in the absence of a mobile phone. Although technological addictions such as smartphone addiction and internet addiction have been studied extensively in the psychology literature, it is striking that nomophobia is a neglected psychological problem. However, nomophobia is emerging as a common phenomenon among young adults, as most young adults use the mobile phone for about 5 hours a day. Some users define the mobile phone as a friend and the meaning of life. More importantly, prevalence studies have revealed that about half of young adults suffer from nomophobia. Since nomophobia causes many serious consequences such as physical pain, social problems and a decrease in academic achievement, nomophobia studies are important and beneficial especially for the younger generation.

This book has been written to emphasize the importance of nomophobia and to provide detailed information about the diagnosis, treatment, prevalence, predictors and symptoms of nomophobia. In addition, this book aimed to conceptualize nomophobia theoretically. Also, based on the theoretical conceptualization, psychological structures that can cause nomophobia have been identified. The theoretical conceptualization has been tested and validated using scientific methods. This book, which contains a comprehensive literature review and scientific research, can shed light on researchers for future nomophobia studies. I also believe that this book will make valuable contributions to the clinical field by providing a better understanding of the factors that should be considered in prevention programs and treatment interventions developed for nomophobia. I hope that scholars, clinicians, and students from a variety of disciplines will find my efforts helpful. Lastly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Özden Yalçınkaya Alkar for her constant support, advice, and understanding during my doctoral process.

                                                                                                                                   Dr. Özge ENEZ

ABOUT AUTHOR:

Özge Enez, PhD, graduated from Istanbul University, Department of Psychology in 2009. Özge completed her master’s degree in clinical psychology at Queen Mary, University of London in 2013 and her doctorate in psychology at Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University in 2021. Since 2014, she is a faculty member at the Department of Guidance and Psychological Counselling, Giresun University, Turkey. Özge has extensive experience in teaching at the university. Since 2014, she has been teaching undergraduate courses such as Child Psychology, Interpersonal Communication, Developmental Psychology, Psychological Counseling Skills. Her research area is Clinical Psychology and her research interests are smartphone addiction, nomophobia, grief, death, psychopathology, and emotions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eKitap Projesi
• Release date: Dec 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9786257287647

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THE PHOBIA OF THE MODERN WORLD: NOMOPHOBIA

Conceptualization of Nomophobia and Investigation of Associated Psychological Constructs

*This book is based on Özge Enez’s doctoral dissertation submitted to Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University.

Dr. Özge ENEZ

Author: ÖZGE ENEZ

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PREFACE

In the modern world, the mobile phone has become an indispensable part of modern life. On the one hand, the mobile phone allows maintaining interpersonal contacts and fulfilling work or school duties regardless of time and location. It enables individuals to plan their daily routines and their free times. On the other hand, a mobile phone is a tool that can cause several psychological and physical problems. Nomophobia, which is considered the phobia of the modern era, is only one of these problems. In the simplest terms, nomophobia is the fear of being without a mobile phone and the intense anxiety and distress experienced in the absence of a mobile phone. Although technological addictions such as smartphone addiction and internet addiction have been studied extensively in the psychology literature, it is striking that nomophobia is a neglected psychological problem. However, nomophobia is emerging as a common phenomenon among young adults, as most young adults use the mobile phone for about 5 hours a day. Some users define the mobile phone as a friend and the meaning of life. More importantly, prevalence studies have revealed that about half of young adults suffer from nomophobia. Since nomophobia causes many serious consequences such as physical pain, social problems and a decrease in academic achievement, nomophobia studies are important and beneficial especially for the younger generation.

This book has been written to emphasize the importance of nomophobia and to provide detailed information about the diagnosis, treatment, prevalence, predictors and symptoms of nomophobia. In addition, this book aimed to conceptualize nomophobia theoretically. Also, based on the theoretical conceptualization, psychological structures that can cause nomophobia have been identified. The theoretical conceptualization has been tested and validated using scientific methods. This book, which contains a comprehensive literature review and scientific research, can shed light on researchers for future nomophobia studies. I also believe that this book will make valuable contributions to the clinical field by providing a better understanding of the factors that should be considered in prevention programs and treatment interventions developed for nomophobia. I hope that scholars, clinicians, and students from a variety of disciplines will find my efforts helpful. Lastly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Özden Yalçınkaya Alkar for her constant support, advice, and understanding during my doctoral process.

Dr. Özge ENEZ

About Author

Özge Enez, PhD, graduated from Istanbul University, Department of Psychology in 2009. Özge completed her master’s degree in clinical psychology at Queen Mary, University of London in 2013 and her doctorate in psychology at Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University in 2021. Since 2014, she is a faculty member at the Department of Guidance and Psychological Counselling, Giresun University, Turkey. Özge has extensive experience in teaching at the university. Since 2014, she has been teaching undergraduate courses such as Child Psychology, Interpersonal Communication, Developmental Psychology, Psychological Counseling Skills. Her research area is Clinical Psychology and her research interests are smartphone addiction, nomophobia, grief, death, psychopathology, and emotions.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Nomophobia

1.1.1. Definition of Nomophobia

1.1.2. Dimensions of Nomophobia

1.1.3. Diagnostic Criteria of Nomophobia

1.1.4. Prevalence of Nomophobia

1.1.5. Treatment of Nomophobia

1.2. Problematic Phone Use

1.2.1. Mobile Phone Dependence and Nomophobia

1.2.2. Smartphone Addiction and Nomophobia

1.2.3. Fear of Missing Out and Nomophobia

1.3. Previous Studies on Nomophobia

CHAPTER 2. THEORETICAL CONCEPTUALISATION OF NOMOPHOBIA

2.1. Emotion Dysregulation and Nomophobia

2.2. Positive Affect, Negative Affect and Nomophobia

2.3.  Boredom Proneness and Nomophobia

2.4. Psychological Symptom Severity and Nomophobia

CHAPTER 3. TESTING THE NOMOPHOBIA MODEL

3.1. Method

3.1.1. Participants

3.1.2. Measurements

3.1.3. Procedure

3.1.4. Statistical Analysis

3.2. Results

3.2.1. Demographic Information Analyses

3.2.2. Correlation Analyses

3.2.3. Regression Analysis

CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION

4.1. Demographic Characteristics of The Participants and Nomophobia

4.2. Emotion Dysregulation and Nomophobia

4.3. Trait Affect and Nomophobia

4.4. Boredom Proneness and Nomophobia

4.5. Psychological Symptom Severity and Nomophobia

4.6. The Five-Predictor Model and Nomophobia

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION

6. REFERENCES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ANOVA:               One-way analysis of variance

BCa:                      Bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap

BIC:                       Bayesian information criterion

BP:                         Boredom proneness

BPS-SR:                Short version of the boredom proneness scale

BS:                          Boredom susceptibility

BSI:                         Brief symptom inventory

CI:                           Confidence interval

CIUT:                      Compensatory internet use theory

Covid-19:                Coronavirus

DERS:                     Difficulty of emotion regulation scale

DSM-V:                   Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition

EDR:                        Emotion dysregulation

ER:                           Emotion regulation

FoMO:                     Fear of missing out

GSI:                         Global severity index

ICD-11:              International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems Eleventh Edition

ICT:                          Information and communication technologies

MP:                           Mobile phone

NA:                           Negative affect

NMP-Q:                   Nomophobia questionnaire

PA:                            Positive affect

PANAS:                    Positive and negative affect schedule

SCL-90-R:                Symptom checklist-90-revised

SNS:                         Social networking sites

SP:                            Smartphone

SPSS 23:                   Statistical package for social sciences 23

TSI:                           Turkey Statistical Institute

UGT:                         Uses and gratifications theory

VIF:                          Variance inflation factor

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1. means, standard deviations, ranges, skewness and kurtosis values of the variables

table 3. 2. participants’ demographic information

table 3. 3. means and standard deviations, and minimum maximum values of nomophobia scores

table 3. 4. results of independent samples t-test analysis in terms of gender

table 3. 5. differences in terms of nomophobia score between groups associated with demographic information

table 3. 6. correlations of emotion dysregulation with nomophobia and the dimensions of nomophobia

table 3. 7. correlations between nomophobia and the dimensions of emotion dysregulation

table 3. 8. correlations of positive affect with nomophobia and the dimensions of nomophobia

table 3. 9. correlations of negative affect with nomophobia and the dimensions of nomophobia

table 3.10. correlations of boredom proneness with nomophobia and the dimensions of nomophobia

table 3.11. correlations of psychopathological symptoms severity with nomophobia and the dimensions of nomophobia

table 3.12. correlations between the brief symptom inventory subscales and nomophobia

table 3. 13. means, standard deviations, and correlations with confidence intervals

table 3. 14. results of the multiple linear regression analysis

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

In the early 2000s, information and communication technologies (ICT) have developed rapidly and the mobile phone (MP) has become an indispensable part of modern life. Today, advances in mobile technology have led to a situation where many users are permanently on the internet and connected to other people (Vorderer et al., 2016) and use it for a variety of purposes such as notepad, camera, shopping, and navigation (Lee et al., 2014; Sirakaya, 2018). Turkey Statistical Institute (TSI) reported that the number of MP subscribers was approximately 52 million in 2006, 70 million in 2013, and 81 million in 2018 (Turkey Statistical Institute [TSI], 2018). More recently, TSI reported that mobile phone ownersip rate was 94.2% for the 16-24 age range, and 98% for the 25-34 age range (TSI, 2020). While the number of MP users worldwide was 3.668 billion in 2016, it was 6.055 in 2020 (O’Dea, 2021).

Similar to MP ownership, over time, social networking sites (SNS) and MP applications have become popular among university students (Uzun et al., 2016). An average user has more than 40 apps on the MP (Deng et al., 2018). As reported by Smith (2015), 91% of youth used the MP for social media, 75% of youth used it to watch videos, and 64% of youth used it to listen to music. Additionally, 22% of youth log on to social networks at least 10 times within one day (Malik, 2018; O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011). Previous studies have also revealed that university students use the MP almost six hours a day (Andrews et al., 2015; Souza et al., 2020; Xu et al., 2015).

Moreover, the MP is not only a technological device because users form an emotional bond with it (Konok et al., 2016; Nie et al., 2020), and accept it as a source of safety (Fowler & Noyes, 2015; Trub & Barbot, 2016). Therefore, separation from it causes anxiety (Arpaci, 2017; Cheever et al., 2014; Clayton et al., 2015; Mannion, 2018; Parent, 2014), stress, proximity seeking behaviour (Han et al., 2017; Konok et al., 2017), and several intense negative emotions (Hoffner et al., 2015). As an axample, Vincent (2011) investigated the emotional words individuals used to describe their interaction with the MP. The most commonly expressed emotions were anxiety and panic. The participants stated that they experienced these negative emotions because of the fear of losing connectivity with others and losing personal data contained on the MP. The participants also mentioned that it provides a sense of security. These studies can be accepted as evidence of the emotional bond established with the MP. The widespread use of mobile phones causes various psychological problems. One of these problems is nomophobia. The main purpose of this book is to explain nomophobia in detail, to conceptualize nomophobia and to identify some psychological factors that cause nomophobia. Therefore, in the following sections, first of all, nomophobia is explained in detail in light the of the previous literature. Secondly, the model developed for the conceptualization of nomophobia based on the perspectives of the compensatory Internet use theory (CIUT) (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014) and the uses and gratifications theory (UGT) (Blumler, 1979) was tested. Lastly, some inferences and recommendations for the treatment and prevention of nomophobia were made based on the findings.

1.1. Nomophobia

1.1.1. Definition of Nomophobia

Nomophobia is an abbreviation for no-mobile-phone phobia and is evaluated as a disorder of the modern world (Durak, 2019; Yildirim, 2014). The nomophobia term was first used in 2008 by the United Kingdom Post Office in a study to determine the concerns of MP users. 2163 users participated in the study. It was found that 53% of MP users tended to be anxious when they were not able to use the MP (Securenvoy, 2012). Later, nomophobia has been defined by several researchers. At first, it was defined as denotes discomfort or anxiety when out of mobile phone or computer contact and fear of becoming technologically incommunicable, distant from the phone or not connected to the Web (King et al., 2010, p. 52). More recently, nomophobia has been defined as discomfort, stress or anxiety caused by the absence of an MP or any other virtual communication devices in people who use these devices habitually (Yildirim, 2014). The term nomophobe is used to define a person suffering from nomophobia. The term nomophobic is used to define the characteristics of nomophobes and the behavioral patterns associated with nomophobia (Yildirim, 2014).

Before explaining nomophobia in detail, it is worth mentioning that a smartphone has more advanced features than a standard phone such as mobile internet (Gezgin, Hamutoglu, Gultekin et al., 2018). In particular, the use of mobile internet encourages controlling behaviors due to notifications. Therefore, the smartphone might cause individuals to display greater habitual controlling behaviors and these behaviors can lead to nomophobia symptoms (Turner et al., 2008), and so nomophobia should be considered in relation to smartphones (Park et al., 2013; Yildirim, 2014). Therefore, in this book, nomophobia was discussed in relation to smartphones. For consistency, the abbreviation MP for the phone was