ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: Nomophobia (no mobile phone) is defined as a digital era phobia characterized by an excessive fear of not being able to use the cell phone. In the COVID-19 pandemic context, there was an intensification of information and communication technology. The current study aimed to explore differences in nomophobia levels during the COVID-19 pandemic and those evidenced before the pandemic situation. Additionally, we sought to analyze the relationship between nomophobia and variables such as the frequency of use of screens for professional purposes, the use of cell phone management, and to what extent the pandemic made screen use a recurrent practice. We hypothesize that the fact that most of the daily activities took place at home (e.g., teleworking, online classes), there is a global decrease of nomophobia levels. Methods: Cross-sectional study. The sample comprised 288 participants from the general population in a pandemic situation and 500 participants who took part in a survey conducted before the pandemic. All participants completed online the European Portuguese version of the Nomophobia Questionnaire. Results: The nomophobia levels observed during the pandemic situation were lower compared to the pre-pandemic period. There were no statistically significant differences in nomophobia levels by sex, marital status, or recurrent use of the screen. Nomophobia was not associated with age, use of screens for professional purposes, or mobile phone management. Conclusions: Given that most activities occurred at home (e.g., teleworking, online classes), the nomophobia levels during the Covid-19 pandemic were lower. This seems to be related to the global decrease of the fear of not being able to communicate through the smartphone, losing connectivity, not being able to access information and the fear of not having a Wi-Fi signal or running out of battery.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Given the pandemic circumstances, fear may emerge due to uncertainty, the possibility of being infected by SARS-Cov 2 or infecting others. It may also be associated with psychopathological symptoms and impact quality of life resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: The current study aimed to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Fear of Contracting COVID-19 Scale (FCCS) in Portuguese adolescents and analyze the relationship between fear of contracting COVID-19 and depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, and with the quality of life of this age group. Method: The sample comprised 269 adolescents (137 boys and 132 girls), aged between 11 and 16 years old, attending the 3rd cycle of basic education. Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the FCCS, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21), and the KIDSCREEN-10, as a measure of the quality of life in adolescents. Results: The FCCS revealed, as in its original version for adults, a one-dimensional structure, with good adjustment indicators and good reliability. The fear of contracting COVID-19 was associated with anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms, but it did not show a relationship with the adolescents' quality of life. Gender differences showed that the girls present higher levels of fear of contracting COVID-19, more anxiety, depression and stress symptoms, and a worse perception of their quality of life. Conclusions: The Fear of Contracting COVID-19 Scale showed to be suitable for use with adolescents. The fear of contracting COVID-19, although associated with psychopathological symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, does not seem to be related to the quality of life of adolescents.