Nomophobia and Phubbing: Wellbeing and new media education in the family among adolescents in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Nomophobia and Phubbing are negative phenomena linked to the proliferation of smartphones as well as unlimited Internet access. Individual and social changes in behaviour determined by the ubiquity of smartphones necessitate an analysis of these two types of problematic Internet use. Both types of behaviour are particularly noticeable among adolescents. The aim of this article is to show the extent of nomophobia and phubbing among adolescents in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to link these phenomena to wellbeing and the influence of the family on the style of smartphone use among young people. The research was conducted in the first half of 2021 among adolescents aged 12–18 years (N = 1083) using a triangulation of survey questionnaires such as NMP-Q The Nomophobia Questionnaire and Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire, Phubbing scale, and the Wellbeing level, as well as new media parenting style in the family. From the data collected, it was noted that: 1) Thinking about the phone while bored and not being able to 'keep in contact with members of the social circle are the most common factors of nomophobia; 2) About 1/3 of the respondents declare having symptoms of nomophobia; 3) More than 2/3 of teenagers have a phone in their environment all of the time; 4) Every fourth teenager very often receives negative comments from their immediate peers due to the style of smartphone use; 5) Smartphone use in the vicinity of other people is the norm for teenagers - an acceptable behaviour in contrast to the perception of this situation among some groups of adults; 6) Only 9.87% of adolescents have a high saturation of phubbing; 7) Most indicators related to nomophobia and phubbing are more frequent among girls than boys; 8) Only 16.43% of parents use dialogue methods related to education about new media; 9) Over 60% of parents do not employ any methods to reduce selected forms of problematic use of smartphones; 10) Parents are more active in educating younger than older adolescents about new media; 11) Satisfaction with activities in the offline sphere is a protective factor for phubbing.