An investigation into the impact of high school students' artificial intelligence awareness in electronic leisure on nomophobia

This study aims to examine the effect of high school students' awareness levels of artificial intelligence during their free time on nomophobia. The population of the study consists of high school students studying in Eskisehir Province during the 2024-2025 academic year. The sample consists of 294 high school students, including 154 female and 140 male students. To collect data, the study utilized the Artificial Intelligence Awareness Scale in Electronic Leisure Time developed by Türkmen (2022) to measure participants' levels of artificial intelligence awareness during electronic leisure time, and the Nomophobia Scale developed by Yıldırım and Correia (2015) and adapted into Turkish by Yıldırım et al. (2016). Based on the four dimensions of the Nomophobia Scale, participants were divided into three clusters. First, the number of groups was determined using hierarchical cluster analysis, and then participants were classified into three groups—low, medium, and high levels of nomophobia—using K-means analysis. Findings regarding the demographic characteristics of the clusters were examined based on chi-square analysis results, and no significant differences were found in terms of family income level, class, and age, but significant differences were found in terms of gender, carrying a charger, spending time on the phone before going to sleep, and checking the phone immediately upon waking up. According to the ANOVA results, significant differences were found between genders in terms of the dimensions of inability to access information, inability to communicate, and inability to feel comfortable, while no difference was found in terms of the dimension of losing connection. In addition, the study examined the relationship between individuals' levels of nomophobia and their awareness of artificial intelligence during their electronic leisure time. According to the results of the multiple linear regression analysis, which were consistent with the findings of the MANOVA analysis, it was found that as individuals' behavioral and emotional awareness of artificial intelligence increased during their electronic leisure time, their levels of nomophobia also increased significantly. These findings indicate that nomophobic individuals have higher artificial intelligence awareness because they are more closely connected to technology.