Determining symptomatic factors of nomophobia in Peruvian students from the National University of Engineering

Abstract

The use of cell phones has increased worldwide in the past few decades, particularly in children and adolescents. Using these electronic devices provides personal benefits. Communicating through cell phones was a very important factor in the socioeconomic progress of developed countries. However, it is beyond doubt that its indiscriminate use can bring up certain psychiatric disorders or cause some disorder in a person, within the phobic group of anxiety disorders called nomophobia; basically associated with anxiety, nervousness, discomfort, and distress when contact with the smartphone is lost, mainly in the youngest users. This research proposal aims to identify symptoms that have not yet been detected by unceasing cell phone use, considering that in Peru there are few studies of human health engineering and the physical mental health. For that reason, we sought to identify the symptomatic factors of nomophobia presented by students at the National University of Engineering and its interference with their academic life. To accomplish this study, we designed a questionnaire according to our reality with the use of focus groups techniques when the test was taken in class. Three symptomatic factors of nomophobia were identified: feelings of anxiety, compulsive smartphone use, and feelings of anxiety and panic. The study included a representative sample of 461 students in different years of study engineering (21% women, 79% men, over 17 years of age). Finally, given the widespread adoption of smartphones and their integration into educational environments, the results of this study can help educators understand students' inclination to use their smartphones at all times.