In this technological age, many of us could not imagine life without our devices. However, there is a genuine phobia of being without ones’ smartphone; nomophobia. A recent study at Iowa State University sought to further define nomophobia and develop a questionnaire that could be used to measure its severity. The researchers reported on four separate dimensions of nomophobia: inability to communicate, loss of connectedness, inability to access information, and loss of convenience. The researchers also developed a questionnaire comprised of 20 questions, which was validated to reliably determine nomophobia severity.

Caglar Yildirim, Ana-Paula Correia. Exploring the dimensions of nomophobia: Development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire. Computers in Human Behavior, 2015; 49: 130 DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.059