Nomophobia in teenagers: what lies behind the difficulty of being apart from the phone?

For most teenagers, the phone is part of everyday life. Through it they talk to friends, use social media, keep up to date, have fun and stay connected with what is happening around them.

But what happens when being without their phone causes them intense discomfort or anxiety?

Nomophobia describes exactly this difficulty: the anxiety or distress a person may feel when they do not have access to their phone or cannot use it. It is not necessarily about the device alone, but about everything it represents: communication, connection with others, access to information and taking part in social life.

What did the research in Cyprus show?

In a study of 433 adolescents and young adults aged 15–22 in Cyprus, the results showed that nomophobia was particularly common. 50.6% showed moderate and 33.3% severe nomophobia, while only 0.9% showed none at all.

Young women showed higher levels of nomophobia than young men. Getting a smartphone at a younger age was also linked to higher levels of nomophobia.

What seems to be linked to nomophobia?

The study looked at how nomophobia relates to phone and social media use, loneliness, anxiety, phobic anxiety, problematic social media use and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), the fear that one may be missing important or interesting experiences that others are having.

At first, all of these factors were related to nomophobia. But when they were examined together, what stood out in particular was the role of social media use, problematic engagement with it and FoMO, as well as getting a first smartphone at a younger age.

These findings suggest that nomophobia is not simply about the time a young person spends in front of a screen. What also matters is how they use the phone and, above all, the role it has come to play in their social life and their connection with others.

For a young person, the phone may be how they feel they belong, keep up their friendships, know what others are doing and stay part of the group. So the difficulty of being apart from it may be as much about the fear of losing that connection as about the device itself.

What can parents do?

The answer is not necessarily prohibition or constant conflict over screens. What seems particularly important is how children and teenagers learn to use technology from an early age.

Guidance from parents, open communication and building balanced digital habits can contribute to a healthier relationship with the phone and social media. The research also points out that the emphasis does not need to be only on restrictions, but also on responsible use and on developing healthy digital habits from a younger age.

So perhaps, instead of only asking:

“Why are you always on your phone?”

it may be more valuable to ask ourselves:

“What does your phone give you that makes it so hard to put down?”

About the research

This article is based on my master’s thesis on nomophobia among adolescents and young adults in Cyprus. The study involved 433 people aged 15–22 and examined how common nomophobia is and how it relates to digital habits, loneliness, problematic social media use, the fear of missing out on important experiences (FoMO), anxiety and phobic anxiety.