Nomophobia: A rising concern among Indian students

Abstract

Background: Nomophobia is defined as "the fear of being without a mobile phone or unable to use it." Nowadays, it is considered a modern age phobia. It is to be considered as a form of behavioral addiction.

Aim: This study aims to determine the level of nomophobia in the Indian population aged between 15 and 35 years.

Materials and methods: A personalized questionnaire was designed in the Google Forms and distributed among the targeted audience. The questionnaire contained three parts: consent letter, sociodemographic details, and nomophobia questionnaire. A total of 2061 valid responses were analyzed in SPSS software.

Results: Out of 2061, 52.9% of the respondents were male and 47.1% were female. 92.2% of the respondents were between 18 and 24 years of age group. Moreover, 79.1% of the respondents are undergraduate or pursuing their graduation. 35.5% of the respondents were from metropolitan city, 38.8% were from an urban city, and 12.15% were from a semiurban city, while the rest 13.6% were from rural areas. 74.8% of the respondents were moderate nomophobic, 18.9% were severe nomophobic, and 6.3% were mild nomophobic.

Conclusion: In this study, we observed that nomophobia is moderate to severe and that our "physical, mental, and social health" has a major concern.

Keywords: Anxiety disorder; mobile phone addiction; nomophobia; nomophobia questionnaire.