Digital addiction in football players: The relationship between nomophobia and happiness

Published 2025-09-25
Keywords
- Nomophobia, Happiness, Amateur Football Player, Moderation Analysis
- Nomofobi, Mutluluk, Amatör Futbolcular, Moderasyon Analizi
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Copyright (c) 2025 Mehmet Metin

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Abstract
This study examines the effect of smartphone use on nomophobia (fear of being without a phone) and happiness levels in amateur soccer players. A total of 300 amateur soccer players participated in the study, and data were collected using a Personal Information Form, Nomophobia Scale, and Happiness Scale. Analyses using IBM SPSS 30.0 and Hayes Process v4.2 revealed that age and playing time played a moderating role in the relationship between happiness and nomophobia. The decreasing effect of happiness on nomophobia was significant, especially in young soccer players (B = -0.2304, p = 0.0239). This relationship weakens as age increases. While happiness significantly decreased nomophobia in long-term players (B = -0.2314, p = 0.0238), a similar effect was not observed in short-term players. The relationship between happiness and nomophobia differed for goalkeeper and striker players compared to other positions. At the same time, there was no significant relationship between general happiness and nomophobia (p > 0.05). A weak negative relationship was found in the "fear of losing contact" sub-dimension, as happiness increased (r = -0.155, p < 0.01). In conclusion, the effect of happiness on nomophobia varies depending on contextual factors (age, team experience, position). The findings emphasise that intervention programs in the fields of sport psychology and digital addiction should consider individual and contextual factors.
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