Problematic or Functional Nomophobia? A Novel Classification Approach Using Cognitive Diagnostic Models

Previous theory has suggested that individuals’ nomophobia involves both functional and problematic usage; however, few have examined how to accurately diagnose whether individual’s nomophobia is functional or problematic. This study addresses this gap by using the cognitive diagnostic model to classify nomophobia subtypes and to analyze the differences among these subtypes. We recruited two samples: 936 college students for subtype identification and 883 for validating these classifications. Results revealed ten distinct subtypes of nomophobia, with five categorized as functional and the other five as problematic. Significant differences were found in mobile phone addiction tendencies and normal usage between these two groups. Moreover, individuals with problematic nomophobia exhibited significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress compared to those with functional nomophobia. These findings provide valuable insights for developing targeted interventions and enhance the theoretical framework of nomophobia, thereby offering new methodological approaches and research directions for future studies.