Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly and widely affected various aspects of social and individual life. One significant impact is the increased reliance on digital technologies, particularly smartphones, which can lead to nomophobia. Nomophobia is defined
as the fear or anxiety stemming from the loss of access to a mobile phone. This study aims to identify and analyze the prevalence of nomophobia among teacher trainees at the campuses and centers of the University of Cultural Education in Isfahan following the COVID-19 pandemic. The research seeks to have better understanding about how the pandemic has influenced technology-dependent behaviors within the academic community.

Materials and Methods: This study has been performed through a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional approach in the winter 2023. The statistical population of the study included 284 male and female students whose ages were between 18 and 24 from the campuses of the University of Cultural Education in Isfahan, who voluntarily participated in the research. 101 of them were male and 183 of them were female among these participants. Data analysis was performed using version 5 of Graph Pad Prism software (San Diego, CA 92108). The p-value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The results indicated that after the COVID-19 pandemic, 58.45% of students exhibited severe levels of nomophobia. While, 32.39% of them showed moderate levels and 7.39% of them experienced mild symptoms. Only 1.76% of students were found to be free
of nomophobia. Additionally, there were not any significant differences in the prevalence of nomophobia based on gender. Students' smartphone usage behaviors were significantly associated with nomophobia so that the increase in the time of using smartphone and social media leads to intensify the feeling caused by inability of accessing the smartphone.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the rise in nomophobia among students. These results may assist students in managing their smartphone usage by raising awareness about the factors contributing to nomophobia.