Health Psychology Research / HPR / Online First / DOI: 10.14440/hpr.2590262
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Personality Predictors of Nomophobia among Youth

Lyudmila Gitikhmayeva1 ,  Aliya Mambetalina1 ,  Gulnaz Karibayeva1 ,  Nassiya Sultaniyazova2 ,  Almagul Mandykayeva1*
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1 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Journalism and Social Sciences, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
2 Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Institute of Education and Management, West Kazakhstan Innovation and Technological University, Uralsk, West Kazakhstan 090000, Kazakhstan
HPR 2025, 13(2), e81240009 https://doi.org/10.14440/hpr.2590262
Submitted: 10 February 2025 | Accepted: 6 March 2025 | Published: 25 June 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Background

Nomophobia, the fear of being without a mobile device, is becoming an increasing problem among youth.

Objective

This study aims to examine the relationship between nomophobia and personality traits and to explore their connection to anxiety levels.

Methods

This study involved 200 university students from Kazakhstan. The participants were divided into an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG), each consisting of 100 individuals. Of the 200 participants, 48% were male and 52% were female, with an average age of 21 years. The methods used included observation and questionnaires: The no-mobile-phone phobia questionnaire to assess nomophobia, the Big Five Inventory to evaluate personality traits, and correlation analysis to explore the relationship between anxiety and nomophobia.

Results

The study revealed significant differences in levels of nomophobia and personality traits between the EG and CG. Results showed that participants in the EG exhibited significantly higher levels of nomophobia than those in the CG (overall score for EG: 31.5, CG: 17.8; p<0.01). Furthermore, participants in the EG scored lower on extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness scales but higher on neuroticism, indicating a tendency toward anxiety.

Conclusion

The significance of this study lies in its potential to assist psychologists, educators, and student support specialists in developing intervention programs aimed at reducing anxiety and mobile device dependency. Such programs could contribute to improving adolescents’ mental health through offering strategies and resources to manage their relationship with technology.

Keywords
Big five
Digitalization
Gadgets
Nomophobia
Personality traits
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
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Health Psychology Research, Electronic ISSN: 2420-8124 Published by Health Psychology Research
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