Family role overload and nomophobia: a cross-sectional analysis of indirect associations via perceived stress and depressive symptoms

Building on the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping and the I-PACE framework, this cross-sectional study used a serial multiple mediation approach to examine whether perceived stress and depressive symptoms sequentially mediated the relationship between perceived family role overload and nomophobia, while controlling for age and gender. The sample included 671 community-recruited Romanian adults aged 18 to 49 ( M = 24.44, SD = 7.11). Results suggested that perceived family role overload was associated with nomophobia both directly and indirectly. The strongest indirect association was through depressive symptoms alone, followed by a smaller but significant serial indirect association through perceived stress and depressive symptoms; this serial pathway accounted for only a small share of the total indirect association and should not be interpreted as the primary mechanism. Perceived stress alone was not significantly associated with nomophobia when depressive symptoms were included in the model, a pattern consistent with depressive symptoms being more closely associated with nomophobia than perceived stress in this cross-sectional design. The results nonetheless suggest that family stressors and emotional well-being may be relevant considerations in interventions addressing nomophobia in clinical and counseling settings.