Phubbing and Feelings of Loneliness: A Study with Future Health Professionals

Background/purpose. The increasing use of technology in people's daily lives has given rise to novel social phenomena such as “phubbing,” the act of ignoring someone in a physical environment to attend to a mobile phone. This behavior has sparked interest in the academic field, where social interaction is fundamental for the emotional and psychological well-being of students. The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship between phubbing and feelings of loneliness. Materials/methods. The study adopts a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional, correlational, and descriptive-comparative design. A total of 318 voluntary students from a public health sciences university in Peru participated, responding to the Phubbing Scale and the Loneliness Scale. Results. According to the results, phubbing is directly and significantly related to feelings of loneliness (r = 0.318, p < 0.05). The majority of students reported high levels of phubbing (55.66%) and feelings of loneliness (69.81%). Men exhibited greater mobile phone dependence (p = 0.007) and social loneliness (p = 0.001) than women. Furthermore, those under 24 years of age reported feeling lonelier (p = 0.047) than those older than this age. Conclusion. Health sciences students who exhibit phubbing behaviors are likely to feel lonely in society, at school, or at home. Therefore, it is important for universities to address these cases, particularly for male students and those under 24 years old.