This blog is written by Kadija Gul, Senior Research Assistant at the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) and Mahnoor Sheikh, MPhil graduate in Education from Institute of Business Management (IoBM), Karachi, Pakistan.
With the increasing use of mobile phones and the growing amount of time spent on scrolling through social media posts, most of us remain unaware of its consequences for our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Educators are experiencing a novel anxiety among students, first reported in UK in 2008 known as ‘nomophobia’, the fear of being disconnected from one’s mobile phone, which is fast becoming the permissive form of addictive behaviour. This blog sheds light on the conceptual foundation of nomophobia, the theoretical frameworks that explain it, and its psychological consequences, supported by relevant empirical literature.
Interconnected theoretical foundations
Contemporary nomophobia research is built on a number of interconnected theoretical frameworks that explain its psychological mechanisms and manifestations. For instance, Self-Determination Theory (SDT) provides a crucial lens, implying that nomophobia arises when three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) become dependent on smartphone access. The psychological distress of nomophobia is the fear of being unable to cope in everyday life without constant access to a smartphone and the fear of losing social ties.
Furthermore, Cognitive-Behavioural Models suggest that smartphone separation triggers negative automatic cognitive thoughts, including catastrophic thinking related to phone separation and catastrophic beliefs – such as “I will miss something important” or “I will be disconnected from others”. These can cause anxiety reactions, which reinforce avoidance behaviours and compulsive phone checking.
To add further, Social Anxiety Theory contributes to understanding nomophobia. It implies that smartphones are a safety beahviour that help people with social anxiety to avoid face-to-face communication and cope with social anxiety. Studies show that people with high levels of social anxiety rely more on cellphones to control their emotions, maintain surface-level relationships and avoid real-time communication difficulties, which increases nomophobic tendencies.
Effects on mental wellbeing and cognitive performance
Nomophobia is perceived as a modern form of anxiety, where devices become constant companions that foster dependency and even addiction. For instance, a study conducted in Iran found that 53% of participants feared losing contact in case their phone was lost, the battery ran out or through lack of coverage, and over half acknowledged feeling anxious about not being able to reach out to loved ones. This anxiety is caused by interrupted contact and information access, which is particularly severe for students due to the social and academic demands. It is also associated with low sleep quality – university students have a much higher probability of insomnia or shorter sleep duration due to habits of night-time phone usage.
Nomophobia increases cognitive load when students devote their attentional resources to keeping an eye on and worrying about phone access. This diminished ability impairs working memory, weakens sustained attention, and decreases self-regulation. Nomophobic people exhibit reduced performance on measures of sustained attention and are distracted more easily.
The academic cost of nomophobia
Literature has consistently highlighted the effects of nomophobia on academic performance. For instance, undergraduate students with high levels of smartphone addiction have significantly lower learning outcomes, largely because anxiety reduces the cognitive capacity required to comprehend academic content. Frequent phone use diverts attention and reduces the amount of time available for long-term learning. Research shows that students who keep their smart phones on the desk, even when not using them, demonstrated lower comprehension and engagement in classroom than those who put it away. This constant attentional drift towards potential notifications weakens concentration and information processing.
Similarly, problematic smartphone use strongly predicts poor academic performance due to impaired memory and lower recall. Multitasking students struggle to integrate new ideas effectively. Cautious phone interruptions also contribute to procrastination and ineffective study habits; many students report spending more time scrolling than studying. As a result, heavy phone reliance reduces the time dedicated to schoolwork, gradually undermining their discipline and consistency. Over time, poor time management leads to missed deadlines and lower academic performance.
Conclusion
Considering the detrimental effects of nomophobia on mental wellbeing, daily functioning and students’ academic performance, it is important that we learn to regulate our phone usage. This can be done through regulatory strategies, such as limiting the screen timings, turning off the non-essential notifications and using the “focus mood” during study and task timing to address this fear before it begins to control us. Teachers and students can work together to reduce the impact of nomophobia on academic performance by promoting healthy digital habits, by creating mindful technology use and by using engaging activities that keep the focus of students. Teachers can also teach digital self-regulation strategies and raise awareness about nomophobia. Now is the time to prioritise our mental health and avoid attaching ourselves so deeply to our devices that we lose real connections to people, experiences and the world around us.
