Exploring the relationship between college students’ adaptability and nomophobia

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Several studies have been conducted to investigate the factors associated with nomophobia from the perspective of the internal personality characteristics of college students. However, few studies have explored how interactions between an individual and their external environment, such as adaptability, could influence nomophobia. Therefore, based on the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution theory, this study employed the Freshmen Adaptability Scale and the Nomophobia Scale to investigate the relationship between adaptability and nomophobia. A total of 670 college students participated in this study. Results indicated that students' learning adaptability (β = .177, p < .01), interpersonal adaptability (β = .306), and economic adaptability (β = .492, p < .001) were positively associated with emotional adaptability, and emotional adaptability was negatively associated with nomophobia concerning problematic mobile phone use (β = −.272, p < .01). Emotional adaptability played a full mediating role in these associations. Furthermore, homesickness adaptability was not only positively associated with emotional adaptability (β = .191, p < .001), but also negatively associated with nomophobia (β = −.149, p < .01). Emotional adaptability played a partial mediating role in this association. These findings expand our understanding of nomophobia and draw attention to the roles of emotional adaptability and other adaptabilities.