Lost in the Digital Void: The Interplay of Nomophobia, Loneliness, and Self-Esteem Among Medical Undergraduates of Central India
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Nomophobia, also known as "no mobile phone phobia," represents a mental condition caused by the fear of being detached from mobile phone connectivity. Loneliness and self-esteem are two psychological factors often associated with nomophobia. This study aimed to identify the pattern of mobile use to explore the prevalence of nomophobia, loneliness, and self-esteem among undergraduate medical students of Central India. It also aimed to assess the relationship of nomophobia with loneliness and self-esteem among them. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 316 undergraduate medical students of Government Medical College, Nagpur from August 2023 to October 2023. Data were collected using a predesigned, pretested, and standardized questionnaire. Nomophobia was assessed using Nomophobia Scale, loneliness by using the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale, and self-esteem was assessed using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Karl Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was used to correlate the scores. RESULTS: There were 162 (51.3%) females and 154 (48.7%) males and the mean age was 21±1.72 years. More than 50% of the students had mild-to-moderate levels of nomophobia. The majority of the students had moderate levels of loneliness and self-esteem. There was a significant positive correlation between nomophobia and level of loneliness (r=0.99). The study found that 35.75% of participants exhibited low self-esteem. A statistically significant negative correlation (r=-0.32, p=0.05) was observed between nomophobia and self-esteem. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of nomophobia highlights the extent of mobile phone dependency in this population. A significant positive correlation was found between nomophobia and loneliness, suggesting that excessive reliance on mobile phones might be linked to a lack of meaningful social interactions or heightened feelings of isolation.
Source: Cureus
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.80087
Authors: Neethu Baby, Sarita K Sharma, Pragati G Rathod, Ujwala U Ukey, Jay Prakash Gupta, Uday Narlawar, Kumari Rajnita, Deepika Nair, Anjali Vamadevan
Institution: Government Medical College
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4408217535