A network analysis of nomophobia among Chinese adolescents: Differences in gender and developmental stages
Nomophobia (no-mobile-phone phobia) refers to anxiety and discomfort caused by being out of contact with mobile devices or mobile connectivity. Although nomophobia was conceptualized as comprising four dimensions with multiple symptoms, previous research has often treated nomophobia as a unitary con...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Computers in Human Behavior Reports |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S245195882500154X |
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| author | Wei Hong Jiabin Liu Ru-De Liu Yi Ding Xiantong Yang |
| author_facet | Wei Hong Jiabin Liu Ru-De Liu Yi Ding Xiantong Yang |
| author_sort | Wei Hong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Nomophobia (no-mobile-phone phobia) refers to anxiety and discomfort caused by being out of contact with mobile devices or mobile connectivity. Although nomophobia was conceptualized as comprising four dimensions with multiple symptoms, previous research has often treated nomophobia as a unitary construct, overlooking the complex interplay among individual nomophobia symptoms and subgroup-specific patterns. To address this gap, this study aims to employ network analysis and network comparison tests to identify the central symptoms of nomophobia and examine differences in symptom networks across gender and developmental stages. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 2475 Chinese adolescents, including primary, middle, and high school students. The results identified that the symptoms – “not stay up-to-date”, “others not reach me”, and “keep in touch” exhibited relatively high strength centrality within the overall nomophobia network, indicating that they were more directly and consistently connected with other symptoms. However, symptoms centrality varied across gender and developmental stages: “disconnected from online identity” was especially central among females, and “not look up information” was especially central among primary school students. Network comparison results showed that females exhibited stronger overall symptom connectivity compared to males. These findings advance theoretical understanding of nomophobia as a dynamic network of interrelated symptoms, with certain symptoms as central symptoms, and offer practical implications for designing targeted digital mental health interventions for adolescents. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ed1065092d4b44da8d64e7e73705ba5f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2451-9588 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Computers in Human Behavior Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-ed1065092d4b44da8d64e7e73705ba5f2025-08-20T03:50:11ZengElsevierComputers in Human Behavior Reports2451-95882025-08-011910073910.1016/j.chbr.2025.100739A network analysis of nomophobia among Chinese adolescents: Differences in gender and developmental stagesWei Hong0Jiabin Liu1Ru-De Liu2Yi Ding3Xiantong Yang4Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, 430079, China; Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China; Corresponding author. Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, No. 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing, 100875, China.Graduate School of Education, Fordham University, New York, 10023, USAFaculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, ChinaNomophobia (no-mobile-phone phobia) refers to anxiety and discomfort caused by being out of contact with mobile devices or mobile connectivity. Although nomophobia was conceptualized as comprising four dimensions with multiple symptoms, previous research has often treated nomophobia as a unitary construct, overlooking the complex interplay among individual nomophobia symptoms and subgroup-specific patterns. To address this gap, this study aims to employ network analysis and network comparison tests to identify the central symptoms of nomophobia and examine differences in symptom networks across gender and developmental stages. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 2475 Chinese adolescents, including primary, middle, and high school students. The results identified that the symptoms – “not stay up-to-date”, “others not reach me”, and “keep in touch” exhibited relatively high strength centrality within the overall nomophobia network, indicating that they were more directly and consistently connected with other symptoms. However, symptoms centrality varied across gender and developmental stages: “disconnected from online identity” was especially central among females, and “not look up information” was especially central among primary school students. Network comparison results showed that females exhibited stronger overall symptom connectivity compared to males. These findings advance theoretical understanding of nomophobia as a dynamic network of interrelated symptoms, with certain symptoms as central symptoms, and offer practical implications for designing targeted digital mental health interventions for adolescents.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S245195882500154XNomophobiaNetwork analysisGender differencesDevelopmental stageAdolescent |
| spellingShingle | Wei Hong Jiabin Liu Ru-De Liu Yi Ding Xiantong Yang A network analysis of nomophobia among Chinese adolescents: Differences in gender and developmental stages Computers in Human Behavior Reports Nomophobia Network analysis Gender differences Developmental stage Adolescent |
| title | A network analysis of nomophobia among Chinese adolescents: Differences in gender and developmental stages |
| title_full | A network analysis of nomophobia among Chinese adolescents: Differences in gender and developmental stages |
| title_fullStr | A network analysis of nomophobia among Chinese adolescents: Differences in gender and developmental stages |
| title_full_unstemmed | A network analysis of nomophobia among Chinese adolescents: Differences in gender and developmental stages |
| title_short | A network analysis of nomophobia among Chinese adolescents: Differences in gender and developmental stages |
| title_sort | network analysis of nomophobia among chinese adolescents differences in gender and developmental stages |
| topic | Nomophobia Network analysis Gender differences Developmental stage Adolescent |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S245195882500154X |
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