Fear of missing out (FoMO) and rumination mediate relations between social anxiety and problematic Facebook use

Abigail E Dempsey; Kelsey D O'Brien; Mojisola F Tiamiyu; Jon D Elhai

doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2018.100150

Fear of missing out (FoMO) and rumination mediate relations between social anxiety and problematic Facebook use

Addict Behav Rep. 2019 Apr 12:9:100150. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2018.100150. eCollection 2019 Jun.

Authors

Abigail E Dempsey¹, Kelsey D O'Brien¹, Mojisola F Tiamiyu¹, Jon D Elhai^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft Street, Toledo, OH 43606, USA.
² Department of Psychiatry, University of Toledo, 3000 Arlington Ave., Toledo, OH 43614, USA.
³ Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, No. 57-1 Wujiayao Street, Hexi District, Tianjin 300074, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Prior research has found that psychopathology constructs such as depression and anxiety are associated with problematic use of Facebook (PFU). In the present study, we examined a structural equation model whereby depression, social anxiety and lower life satisfaction predicted PFU severity, while analyzing mediating variables including rumination, fear of missing out (FoMO), and frequency of Facebook use, as well as age and gender as covariates.

Method: Participants were 296 college students administered a web survey of instruments measuring these constructs.

Results: Modeling results demonstrate that FoMO and rumination were significantly related to PFU severity. Facebook use frequency was related to PFU severity. FoMO and rumination each mediated relations between social anxiety and PFU severity.

Conclusions: Results are discussed in the context of prior work on FoMO and excessive technology use, as well as several relevant theoretical frameworks.

Keywords: Fear of missing out; Problematic social networking site use; Rumination; Social anxiety; Social networking site use.