ArticlePloS one2026
Nomophobia in the association between sport anxiety and happiness: Evidence from a cross-sectional mediation model.
Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between sport anxiety and happiness by focusing on the mediating role of nomophobia among university students. Grounded in the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping and Uses and Gratifications Theory, the study uses these theoretical perspectives only as conceptual frameworks for interpreting the observed statistical associations. The sample consists of 390 undergraduate students (48.2% female, 51.8% male; all participants were aged 18 years or older) enrolled in Faculties of Sport Sciences. Data were collected using the Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2), the Nomophobia Scale (NMP-Q), and the Happiness Scale. Mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes PROCESS macro (Model 4) with 5,000 bootstrap samples to test indirect effects. The findings indicate that sport anxiety is significantly negatively associated with happiness while being positively associated with levels of nomophobia. In contrast, nomophobia shows a significant positive association with happiness. The mediation results reveal a significant indirect effect, indicating a competitive mediation pattern. Specifically, while sport anxiety is directly associated with lower levels of happiness, it is also indirectly associated with higher levels of happiness through higher nomophobia scores. These findings suggest that the observed statistical pattern may be compatible with a compensatory interpretation of nomophobia. However, because of the cross-sectional design, this interpretation should be regarded as a possible explanation rather than evidence of an underlying psychological process. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting the complexity of the statistical associations among sport anxiety, nomophobia, and happiness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.