Nomophobia and psychological distress in university students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23442212Keywords:
nomophobia, psychological distress, mental healthAbstract
The study examined the association between nomophobia and psychological distress among Education students at a public university in Lima. A quantitative, basic research study was conducted using a non-experimental, correlational, and cross-sectional design. The census sample consisted of 392 students, comprising 226 men and 166 women. The Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) were administered. Given that the psychological distress data did not follow a normal distribution, Spearman’s rho coefficient, the Mann–Whitney U test, and simple linear regression were employed. The results revealed a positive and significant association between nomophobia and psychological distress (rho = .371, p < .001). 64.8% of the students were identified as being at risk for nomophobia, and 53.6% exhibited a moderate level of psychological distress. Among the dimensions, the loss of connectivity showed the strongest association with psychological distress (rho = .369, p < .001). No significant differences in nomophobia were observed based on sex; however, women exhibited higher levels of psychological distress (p < .001). The regression model explained 13.2% of the variance in psychological distress (f² = .152). These findings suggest that nomophobia is related to psychological distress, although the cross-sectional nature of the study precludes the inference of causality.
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