Relationship between Problematic Internet Use And Nomophobia Levels among The Faculty Youth

Abstract

particularly among adolescents. Using these electronic devices provide multiple personal benefits. However, this can lead people to become addicted to Smartphone and would suffer from Problematic Internet Use(PIU) and subsequently NOMOPHOBIA which is the (no mobile phobia) i.e., the fear of being out of contact with the mobile phone. Since the younger generation are the most consumers of Smartphone and the most frequently users of internet, hence many bio-psychosocial problems started to appear. There for, this study was conducted to explore the NOMOPPHOBIA levels among youth students at the Faculty of Nursing - CairoUniversity and its interrelatedness to Problematic Internet Use. Exploratory-correlation research design was conducted in this study. Stratified systematic random sample of 95 undergraduate students at all four grades of the Faculty of Nursing- Cairo University was selected for this study.. Three instruments were used in the current study including socio-demographic characteristics and internet usage profile sheet, the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ), and the NOMOPHOBIA Questionnaire. Results revealed that 57.95% of the studied sample had significant Problematic Internet Use, and NOMOPHOBIA was severely prevalent among 47.19% and moderately prevalent among 46.07 %. Highly significant positive relation between Problematic Internet Use and NOMOPHOBIA at p-value < 0.0001 was found in this sample. In conclusion sampled youth students at the Faculty of Nursing, CairoUniversity suffered high prevalence of both NOMOPHOBIA and Problematic Internet Use which showed highly positive significant correlation. Health education strategies are recommended to target these youth to minimize the harmful effect of Smartphone misuse.