Mobile Phone Use and Nomophobia Among College Going Adolescents in a South Indian City
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background
When adolescents start college education, they gain unfettered access to smartphones. This can lead to unsafe and unhealthy usage, and ultimately addiction and nomophobia. Nomophobia is the fear of being out of contact with one’s own mobile phone. The problem of Nomophobia is growing over the years and might need public health intervention in the near future.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to examine the explore mobile phone usage and the problem of nomophobia among college-going adolescent students.
Methods
A college-based cross-sectional study was carried out among adolescents in Madurai city, India. 660 first-year students, aged 17–19 years were selected by multistage random sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire including the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) was used. Ethical clearance was obtained before the start of the study.
Results
All of the 660 adolescents were using smartphones. Students had been using smartphones for 4.6 ± 2.2 years, and average usage per day was 5.2 ± 2.4 hours. They were using mobiles commonly for entertainment (88%), communication (87.4%) and social media (66.5%). Males (4.92 + 2.3) & urban students (4.88+ 2.2) had been using phones for a longer period. Most of the college-going adolescents (98%) had nomophobia, with moderate nomophobia in the majority (60%). Severe nomophobia was more commonly found among rural adolescents and hostelers. Per-day usage & usage for social media, online shopping, and WhatsApp were significantly associated with nomophobia. Nomophobia was not associated with gender, type of family or number of years of phone usage.
Conclusion
Smartphone use is universal, and the top reasons for usage are entertainment, communication, and social media. Males and urban adolescents get access to mobile phones earlier in their lives. The prevalence of nomophobia is alarmingly high. Nomophobia was influenced by family’s locality, student’s residency, daily usage, and pattern of use.