The Fear of Missing Out. How is the Fear of Missing Out related to depression and social anxiety?

Abstract

The Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) has been defined as “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent, FoMO is characterized by the desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing”. Young adults (students) are more affected by FoMO than older adults. Building forth on the expectation that the prevalence of high levels of FoMO will increase in the next years and the (mediating) effect of FoMO on overall well-being and different life aspect, the aim of this research is to clarify further any positive correlations between FoMO and depressive symptoms, FoMO and social anxiety symptoms and the possible differences in sex. It was hypothesized that more FoMO in females leads to more depression and the combination between FoMO and males is associated with more social anxiety symptoms. Lastly, this research will also do an exploration of a possible underlying mechanism: the intolerance of uncertainty. Which could be a starting point for treatment. In an online survey 74 Dutch speaking students completed the Dutch translation of the Fear of Missing Out scale (FoMOs), the Beck depression Inventory (BDI-NL-II), The Social interaction anxiety scale (SIAS) and the Dutch short version of the intolerance of uncertainty (IUS-12). Significant correlations between FoMO and depression, social anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty were observed; a stronger fear of missing out was associated with more depression, more social anxiety and higher levels of intolerance of uncertainty. The interaction between sex and FoMO and the effect on depression and social anxiety was not found; there are no differences between sex regarding the connection between FoMO and depression or social anxiety. Limitations of this research were the limited number of participants, high level of dropout and only a university sample. There are indications that FoMO is related to depression and social anxiety. It is important for further research to try to replicate this study and do a longitudinal study to get more clarity on the causal relations between FoMO, depression and social