A multi-group analysis of the effects of individual differences in mindfulness on nomophobia

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the impact of individual differences in mindfulness on nomophobia. We developed and validated two structural models to identify the relationship between mindfulness and nomophobia. The ‘Nomophobia Questionnaire’ and the ‘Mindful Attention Awareness Scale’ were used to obtain data from the subjects. One-way MANOVA results suggested a statistically significant difference in nomophobia based on higher versus lower mindfulness. Further, a multi-group analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized relationships in the structural models for men and women. The results revealed that mindfulness had a significant negative correlation with nomophobia for both men and women. As scores in mindfulness increased, subjects exhibited less nomophobic tendencies. Further, those subjects who had lower scores in mindfulness showed higher anxiety when they were unable to communicate. However, subjects who scored higher in mindfulness showed lower anxiety when they could not access desired information. Independent sample t-test results were variant across men and women in nomophobia. Based on the findings we conclude that mindfulness based treatments can be beneficial in dealing with nomophobia for women.