The Impact of Nomophobia: Exploring the Interplay between Loneliness, Smartphone Usage, Self-Control, Emotion Regulation, and Spiritual Meaningfulness in an Indonesian Context

Previous research on nomophobia has been conducted mainly through an exploratory approach. Few studies have tested the theoretical model of nomophobia through a confirmatory analysis approach. Thus, this research contributes to filling the existing gap by testing a theoretical model of nomophobia.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Yogyakarta, Palembang, and Jambi, Indonesia. We used purposive sampling to recruit 689 students from various levels in those three cities to participate in this study. Specifically, the participants consisted of junior high school students (n= 245, 35.5%), high school students (n= 235, 34.2%), and students (n= 209, 30.3%). Among them, 380 (55.2%) were women, and 309 (44.8%) were men.

Our findings revealed that emotional regulation, spiritual meaningfulness, and self-control had significant indirect effects on nomophobia. Furthermore, the intensity of smartphone use is an important mediator in this fit model.

SEM analyses of self-control, emotion regulation, and spiritual meaningfulness about loneliness and smartphone use as mediators of nomophobia have not been performed, particularly in the context of Indonesia. Previous studies have primarily treated loneliness and smartphone use as independent variables directly linked to nomophobia. Therefore, this research aims to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the mediated model of nomophobia, contributing valuable insights to the field.