Forouzan Elyasi - Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine AND Sexual and Reproductive Health Research Center AND Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari,
Bahareh Hakimi - Resident, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Parisa Islami-Parkoohi - Community Medicine Specialist, Vice Chancellery for Research and Technology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Research Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

Background: Nomophobia is the fear of being disconnected from one’s mobile phone, prevailing in modern area. To the best of our knowledge, no Persian psychometric scales are available for investigating nomophobia among Iranians. Therefore, we here aimed to translate and validate the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) for being used in Iran. Methods:The NMP-Q was translated from English to Persian using a classical “backward and forward” procedure. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out to explore the underlying factor structure of the translated questionnaire. A principal component analysis (PCA) approach with varimax rotation was further performed. Findings: ۴۲۵ volunteer students were included. Among them, ۸۰.۲% were ۲۰-۳۰ years old. Men and women constituted ۱۸۷ (۴۴.۰%) and ۲۳۸ (۵۶.۰%) of the participants, respectively. ۱۰۰ (۲۳.۵%) of the subjects were medicine graduates. Using mobile phones for more than ۵ years was noted in ۲۱۵ (۵۰.۶%) subjects. Also, ۴۲۲ (۹۹.۳%) subjects connected to the Internet via their cellphones. Regarding cellphone usage, ۳۰۱ (۷۰.۸%) subjects used them less than ۵ hours a day, ۱۵۸ (۳۷.۲%) subjects checked their cellphones less than ۱۰ times a day, and ۹۲ (۲۱.۶%) subjects checked their cellphones every ۲۰ minutes. Eigenvalues and the scree-plot supported a ۳-factorial nature of the translated questionnaire. NMP-Q showed an overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient of ۰.۹۳ (the coefficients of ۰.۹۰, ۰.۷۷, and ۰.۷۱ for the three factors, respectively). The first, second, and third factors explained ۲۶.۳۰%, ۲۰.۸۴%, and ۱۷.۶۰% of the variance, respectively. The total score of NMP-Q correlated with the hours spent with mobile phones, the years of using them, and the age. Conclusion: Our findings showed that the Persian version of the NMP-Q was a valid and reliable tool for evaluating nomophobia among Iranians.

Cell phone use, Questionnaire, Psychometrics, Factor analysis