Nomophobia, attachment styles, depression and perceived social support among university students

The aim of this study is to investigate the nomophobia levels of university students in terms of gender, age, educational status of parents, the duration of having a smartphone, the average usage time and number of controls per day, attachment styles, depression and perceived social support variables. The participants consisted of 498 (244 female, 254 male) students aged between 18-24 who continue their education in various faculties of a state university in Ankara. In this study the Nomophobia Questionnaire, Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and Personal Information Form were used in order to collect data. In the study, while the attachment styles, depression, perceived social support and demografic data are independent variables, nomophobia is dependent variable. The multiple regression analysis was utilized to determine the predictive power of the level of nomophobia. The relationship between sex, the number of controls per day and nomophobia levels of students was examined by independent samples t test. One-way ANOVA was used in the analysis of nomophobia levels, parental education status, the duration of having smartphones and the average usage time of smartphones per day. SPSS 23.0 was used for the statistical analysis of the data. According to the findings, avoidant and anxious attachment, depression, perceived social support from family and special person significantly and positive predicted the nomophobia. The nomophobia levels of university students is significantly different according to sex, the number control and average usage times per day.