Dergiler / Turkish Journal of Pediatrics / 2019 / Cilt: 61 - Sayı: 3
The relationships between nomophobia, alexithymia and metacognitive problems in an adolescent population
- Sayfa
- 345–351
- DOI
- —
Özet
Nomophobia refers to an intense anxiety and stress caused by being out ofcontact with mobile phones (MPs). It is known that excessive engagementwith MPs decreases adolescents’ psychological well-being, social and academicfunctioning. The aim of this study was to investigate the associationsof nomophobia with alexithymia which is characterized by difficultiesin describing and expressing emotions and using empathy, and with themetacognition characteristics which have the function of controlling thecognitions in an adolescent population. The study was conducted on 1817participants (n = 972, 54% female, n = 835, 46% male). The NomophobiaQuestionnaire (NMP-Q), The Twenty-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20)and The Metacognition Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (MCQ-C)were administered to participants. A question form for socio-demographicdata was also administered to participants and their families. Cathegoricalvariables were analyzed by chi-square test, and numerical variables wereanalyzed by independent sample t test. The relationships between the scales’scores were analyzed by the Pearson-product moments correlation test. Thepredictive effects of alexithymia, metacognition problems and gender wereassessed by multiple linear regression analysis. Nomophobia, alexithymiaand metacognition problem levels were significantly higher in females thanmales. There was a significant correlation between NMP-Q and TAS-20scores and MCQ-C scores. TAS-20, MCQ-C scores and gender significantlypredicted the nomophobia when NMP-Q score was a dependent variable.Therapeutic interventions for improving social skills like emphatic thinkingand/or increasing emotional expression may be beneficial in the treatment ofadolescents with alexithymic traits which experience nomophobia. Moreover,interventions that enhance metacognitive skills which can control negativethoughts triggered by the possibility of losing contact with MPs may increasetreatment success.