The Relationship Between Nomophobia and Maladaptive Coping Styles in a Sample of Italian Young Adults: Insights and Implications From a Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background Information technologies have become an integral part of the modern society; however, it is speculated that their overuse would result in addiction. Nomophobia refers to the irrational fear of being out of contact with virtual communication platforms. Generally, upon exposure to stress, humans adjust by employing cognitive mechanisms and behavioral efforts known as coping strategies. Objective The goal of the research was to explore coping styles implemented in subjects with nomophobia. Methods This was a cross-sectional study involving young adult participants (undergraduate students and younger subjects) who were recruited via an online survey using a snowball approach. The Italian version of the Nomophobia Questionnaire was administered to subjects. The measurement of coping styles was done using the 28-item Brief COPE questionnaire. Continuous data were computed as means and standard deviations, whereas categorical data were expressed as percentages, where appropriate. Correlation analysis was performed between the Nomophobia Questionnaire and Brief COPE scores. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted in order to shed light on the determinants of each coping style and its association with nomophobia. Results A total of 403 subjects took part in the study. Subjects with higher nomophobia scores responded when confronted with stress with behavioral disengagement (r=.16, P<.001), denial (r=.19, P<.001), self-blame (r=.12, P=.02), self-distraction (r=.22, P<.001), venting (r=.28, P<.001), use of emotional (r=.25, P<.001), and instrumental support (r=.16, P=.001). Conclusion Nomophobia subjects adopt maladaptive coping strategies when confronted with stress. The acknowledgment of how nomophobia subjects react provides insight and introduces a focus for preventative and interventional measures in this population.