abstract:
Introduction:
In recent years, the rapid expansion of smartphone use has led to an increased prevalence of nomophobia among university students. The present study aimed to examine a structural equation modeling of nomophobia based on mindfulness, with the mediating role of self-control and the moderating role of gender.
Method:
This study employed a descriptive-correlational design using structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical population included students of the University of Shiraz during the academic year 2024–2025, of whom 357 participants were selected through purposive sampling. The research instruments included the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) developed by Yildirim and Correia (2015), the Mindfulness Inventory created by Freiburg (2006), and the Self-Control Scale by Tangney(2004). Data were analyzed using SPSS-16 and AMOS-22 software through Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling.
Results:
The findings indicated that mindfulness has a significant negative relationship with nomophobia and a significant positive relationship with self-control. SEM results confirmed that self-control plays a significant mediating role between mindfulness and nomophobia, with an acceptable model fit (Females: CFI=0.97, RMSEA=0.07; Males: CFI=0.91, RMSEA=0.07). Multi-group analysis revealed that while the structural pattern was similar across genders, differences existed in the strength of path coefficients.
Discussion and conclusion:
The results suggest that mindfulness can reduce nomophobia through the enhancement of self-control. Therefore, mindfulness-based interventions and self-control enhancement programs may be effective in reducing smartphone dependency among students.