Research Article
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Nomophobia as a Possible Mental Health Disorder in Gauteng Secondary Schools

Year 2023, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 150 - 166, 31.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.52134/ueader.1300349

Abstract

This study sought to investigate nomophobia as a possible mental disorder in the Gauteng education sector. This study determines whether educators and learners do suffer from nomophobia (the irrational fear of not having access to their mobile phones and the capabilities on their mobile phones), and whether nomophobia should be considered a mental health disorder in the Gauteng Education sector. A mixed methods single case research (MMSCR) was adopted. In the quantitative phase (Phase 1) data was collected using a questionnaire and in the qualitative phase (Phase 2) data was collected using open-ended questions in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The primary quantitative data from Phase 1 of the research revealed that respondents displayed mild, moderate and severe nomophobia. The quantitative phase (Phase 1) further revealed that educators displayed higher levels of nomophobia as compared to learners. The qualitative phase (Phase 2) indicated that educators do feel uncomfortable without access to the information that they regularly check up on and by their own admission do spend a lot of time on their mobile phones. Learners have an affinity for games and admit being addicted to games. Furthermore, educators and learners used their mobile phones to access resources for schoolwork, and to keep in touch with family and friends. To address nomophobia as a possible mental health disorder in the Gauteng education sector, one needs to understand the usage of educator and learner mobile phone usage. It is with this in mind that the study was conducted.

Supporting Institution

University of South Africa

References

  • Ali, A., Muda, M., Ridzuan, A. R., Nuji, M. N., Izzamuddin, M. H., & Latiff, D. I. (2017). The Relationship Between Phone Usage Factors and Nomophobia. Advanced Science Letters, 23(8), 7610-7613.
  • Bahl, R. R., & DeIuliis, D. (2019). Nomophobia. In I. R. Association (Ed.), Substance Abuse and Addiction: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice (pp. 295-306). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
  • Bhattacharya, S., Bashar, M. A., Srivastava, A., & Singh, A. (2019). NOMOPHOBIA: No Mobile Phone Phobia. J Family Med Prim Care, 8(4), 1297-1300.
  • Bragazzi, N. L., & Del Puente, G. (2014). A proposal for including nomophobia in the new DSM-V. Psychology research and behavior management, 7, 155-160.
  • Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE.
  • Davie, N., & Hilber, T. (2017). Nomophobia: Is smartphone addiction a genuine risk for mobile learning?. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED579211.pdf
  • Davies, N. (2018). Nomophobia: The Modern-Day Pathology. https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/topics/anxiety/nomophobia-the-modern-day-pathology/
  • Dictionary, C. (2020). Nomophobia. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/engli sh/nomophobia
  • Gray, D. E. (2014). Doing Research in the Real World (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications, Inc.
  • Humood, A., Altooq, N., Altamimi, A., Almoosawi, H., Alzafiri, M., Bragazzi, N., Jahrami, H. (2021). The Prevalence of Nomophobia by Population and by Research Tool: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression. Psych, 3(2), 249-258.
  • Jena, R. K. (2015). Compulsive Use Of Smartphone and its Effect on Engaged Learning and Nomophobia. SMART Journal of Business Management Studies, 11(1), 42-51. http://indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:sjbms&volume=11&issue=1&article=005
  • Jibson, M. D., & Seyfried, L. S. (2016). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -American Psychiatric Association (5th ed.). Michigan: Academic Psychiatry.
  • Kim, H. (2013). Exercise rehabilitation for smartphone addiction. Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation, 9(6), 500-505.
  • Kingston, K. (2020). The importance of cell phones in modern society. https://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/153893/cell_phones/the_importance_of_cell_phones_in_modern_society.html Kivunja, C., & Kuyini, A. B. (2017). Understanding and applying research paradigms in educational context. International Journal of Higher Education, 6(5), 26-41.
  • Kwon, M. (2013). The Smartphone Addiction Scale: Development and Validation of a Short Version for Adolescents. PLoS ONE, 8(12).
  • Legg, T. J., & Raypole, C. (2019). Afraid of Losing Your Phone? There’s a Name for That: Nomophobia. https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/nomophobia McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2014). Research in Education: Evidence Based Inquiry. (Seventh Edition. ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
  • Mendoza, J. S., Benjamin, C. P., Lee, S., Minsung, K., & McDonough, I. M. (2018). The effect of cellphones on attention and learning: The influences of time, distraction, and nomophobia. Computers in Human Behaviour, 86, 52-60.
  • Moreno-Guerrero, A. J., López-Belmonte, J., Romero-Rodríguez, J. M., & Rodríguez-García, A. M. (2020). Nomophobia: impact of cell phone use and time to rest among teacher students. Heliyon-Science Direct, 6(5), 1-8.
  • Munoz, K. (2018). Nomophobia — 5 Steps to Ending Your Smartphone Addiction. https://draxe.com/health/nomophobia/
  • Passmark. (2018). How big are South African schools. https://passmark.org.za/howbig/
  • Patel, R. (2015, June 17). Cell Phone use before bedtime might impact sleep, and daytime tiredness. https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/2020/09/27/cell-phone-use-before-bedtime-might-impact-sleep-and-daytime-tiredness/
  • Petter, O. (2018). 'Nomophobia' crowned word of 2018, but what does it mean? https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/nomphobia-word-of-the-year-2018cambridge-dictionary-smartphone-anxiety-a8705106.html
  • Rouse, M. (2013). Definition Nomophobia. https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/nomophobia
  • Surbhi, S. (2017). Difference between Census and Sampling. https://keydifferences.com/differe nce-between-census-and-sampling.html
  • Webster, M. (2019). Nomophobia. https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictio nary/nomophobia#:~:text=%2Db%C4%93%2D%C9%99%20%5C,Definition%20of%20nomophobia,or%20being%20without%20their%20phone.
  • Webster, M. (2019). phobia. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phobia
  • Wikipedia. (2016). Nomophobia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomophobia
Year 2023, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 150 - 166, 31.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.52134/ueader.1300349

Abstract

References

  • Ali, A., Muda, M., Ridzuan, A. R., Nuji, M. N., Izzamuddin, M. H., & Latiff, D. I. (2017). The Relationship Between Phone Usage Factors and Nomophobia. Advanced Science Letters, 23(8), 7610-7613.
  • Bahl, R. R., & DeIuliis, D. (2019). Nomophobia. In I. R. Association (Ed.), Substance Abuse and Addiction: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice (pp. 295-306). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
  • Bhattacharya, S., Bashar, M. A., Srivastava, A., & Singh, A. (2019). NOMOPHOBIA: No Mobile Phone Phobia. J Family Med Prim Care, 8(4), 1297-1300.
  • Bragazzi, N. L., & Del Puente, G. (2014). A proposal for including nomophobia in the new DSM-V. Psychology research and behavior management, 7, 155-160.
  • Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE.
  • Davie, N., & Hilber, T. (2017). Nomophobia: Is smartphone addiction a genuine risk for mobile learning?. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED579211.pdf
  • Davies, N. (2018). Nomophobia: The Modern-Day Pathology. https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/topics/anxiety/nomophobia-the-modern-day-pathology/
  • Dictionary, C. (2020). Nomophobia. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/engli sh/nomophobia
  • Gray, D. E. (2014). Doing Research in the Real World (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications, Inc.
  • Humood, A., Altooq, N., Altamimi, A., Almoosawi, H., Alzafiri, M., Bragazzi, N., Jahrami, H. (2021). The Prevalence of Nomophobia by Population and by Research Tool: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression. Psych, 3(2), 249-258.
  • Jena, R. K. (2015). Compulsive Use Of Smartphone and its Effect on Engaged Learning and Nomophobia. SMART Journal of Business Management Studies, 11(1), 42-51. http://indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:sjbms&volume=11&issue=1&article=005
  • Jibson, M. D., & Seyfried, L. S. (2016). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -American Psychiatric Association (5th ed.). Michigan: Academic Psychiatry.
  • Kim, H. (2013). Exercise rehabilitation for smartphone addiction. Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation, 9(6), 500-505.
  • Kingston, K. (2020). The importance of cell phones in modern society. https://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/153893/cell_phones/the_importance_of_cell_phones_in_modern_society.html Kivunja, C., & Kuyini, A. B. (2017). Understanding and applying research paradigms in educational context. International Journal of Higher Education, 6(5), 26-41.
  • Kwon, M. (2013). The Smartphone Addiction Scale: Development and Validation of a Short Version for Adolescents. PLoS ONE, 8(12).
  • Legg, T. J., & Raypole, C. (2019). Afraid of Losing Your Phone? There’s a Name for That: Nomophobia. https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/nomophobia McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2014). Research in Education: Evidence Based Inquiry. (Seventh Edition. ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
  • Mendoza, J. S., Benjamin, C. P., Lee, S., Minsung, K., & McDonough, I. M. (2018). The effect of cellphones on attention and learning: The influences of time, distraction, and nomophobia. Computers in Human Behaviour, 86, 52-60.
  • Moreno-Guerrero, A. J., López-Belmonte, J., Romero-Rodríguez, J. M., & Rodríguez-García, A. M. (2020). Nomophobia: impact of cell phone use and time to rest among teacher students. Heliyon-Science Direct, 6(5), 1-8.
  • Munoz, K. (2018). Nomophobia — 5 Steps to Ending Your Smartphone Addiction. https://draxe.com/health/nomophobia/
  • Passmark. (2018). How big are South African schools. https://passmark.org.za/howbig/
  • Patel, R. (2015, June 17). Cell Phone use before bedtime might impact sleep, and daytime tiredness. https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/2020/09/27/cell-phone-use-before-bedtime-might-impact-sleep-and-daytime-tiredness/
  • Petter, O. (2018). 'Nomophobia' crowned word of 2018, but what does it mean? https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/nomphobia-word-of-the-year-2018cambridge-dictionary-smartphone-anxiety-a8705106.html
  • Rouse, M. (2013). Definition Nomophobia. https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/nomophobia
  • Surbhi, S. (2017). Difference between Census and Sampling. https://keydifferences.com/differe nce-between-census-and-sampling.html
  • Webster, M. (2019). Nomophobia. https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictio nary/nomophobia#:~:text=%2Db%C4%93%2D%C9%99%20%5C,Definition%20of%20nomophobia,or%20being%20without%20their%20phone.
  • Webster, M. (2019). phobia. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phobia
  • Wikipedia. (2016). Nomophobia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomophobia
There are 27 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Studies on Education
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Julie Matwadia This is me 0009-0008-4094-6630

Renier Jacobus Botha 0000-0002-5425-8635

Early Pub Date December 31, 2023
Publication Date December 31, 2023
Submission Date May 24, 2023
Acceptance Date December 29, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 6 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Matwadia, J., & Botha, R. J. (2023). Nomophobia as a Possible Mental Health Disorder in Gauteng Secondary Schools. International Journal of Scholars in Education, 6(2), 150-166. https://doi.org/10.52134/ueader.1300349