Nomophobia-Related Indicators in Court-Involved Adolescents With Child-to-Parent Violence: A Preliminary Item-Level Correlational Study

Abstract

Background: Nomophobia, commonly understood as fear or distress associated with being without access to a mobile phone, has become a relevant topic in adolescent research. However, little is known about how nomophobiarelated indicators are associated with one another in adolescents involved in juvenile justice interventions for child-toparent violence (CPV).

Methods: This exploratory cross-sectional study included 53 adolescents serving court-ordered measures for CPV in a specialized juvenile justice centre in Madrid, Spain. Six items from the nomophobia subscale of the Risk Scale for Adolescent Addiction to Social Networks and the Internet were analyzed. Item-level bivariate correlations were examined, and the findings were interpreted cautiously in light of the exploratory nature of the study.

Results: The six items showed positive associations, with stronger correlations among indicators related to immediate replies, read-receipt confirmation, restlessness when interaction is absent, and anger when separated from the mobile phone. Items referring to perceived safety when sending messages or photographs showed weaker associations with the remaining items.

Conclusions: The findings suggest a preliminary pattern of internal association among six nomophobia-related Adolescent Social Media and Internet Addiction Risk Scale Reliability and Validity (ERA-RSI) items in this specific sample of court-involved adolescents. These results should not be interpreted as evidence of the full structure of nomophobia or as causal evidence regarding family conflict or interpersonal control. Future studies should use larger multisite samples, validated nomophobia-specific instruments, longitudinal designs, and analytic strategies appropriate for ordinal data.