Worry and fear of missing out are associated with problematic smartphone and social media use severity
Open accessAbstract
In the present study we aimed to investigate whether worry or FOMO would be the more robust correlate of problematic smartphone use (PSU) and problematic social media use (PSMU) severity. We analyzed self-report data from a cross-sectional study of 456 American college students, administered measures of worry, fear of missing out (FOMO), PSU and PSMU. Using structural equation modeling analyses controlling for age and sex, we found that worry and FOMO were both significantly related to greater PSU and PSMU severity; these relationships were stronger for FOMO than worry. Furthermore, FOMO mediated relations between worry with both PSU and PSMU severity. Results are discussed in relation to the I-PACE theoretical model of Internet use disorders, explaining how cognitive and affective response variables may be mechanisms driving relations between psychopathology and problematic Internet use. • Worry was related to problematic smartphone use (PSU) and problematic social media use (PSMU) severity • Fear of missing out (FOMO) was related to PSU and PSMU severity • FOMO was more related to PSU and PSMU than worry was • FOMO mediated relations between worry with both PSU and PSMU
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FOMO is one of the most well-documented drivers of compulsive social media use.
“The FOMO phenomenon, where individuals experience anxiety over missing out on social experiences or information, is one of the most well-documented drivers of compulsive social media use (Gao et al. 2025;Elhai et al. 2025;Bao & Li 2025).”
From The Scrolling Paradox: Analyzing Instagram Addiction Patterns in The Digital Age (2025) · cites this paper as Elhai et al. 2025
The FOMO phenomenon represented 12.6% of psychological response patterns in the study.
“The FOMO phenomenon, representing 12.6% of psychological response patterns in our study, directly supports previous research by Gao et al. (2025) and Elhai et al. (2025).”
From The Scrolling Paradox: Analyzing Instagram Addiction Patterns in The Digital Age (2025) · cites this paper as Elhai et al. (2025)
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Tang, Y., & He, W. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1668567 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
The Scrolling Paradox: Analyzing Instagram Addiction Patterns in The Digital Age
Balcıoğlu, Y. S., Bayraktar, Ü., & Güven, E. (2025) · İmgelem · doi:10.53791/imgelem.1685011 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Elhai, J. D., Casale, S., & Montag, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Toledo (US)
- University of Florence (IT)
- Universität Ulm (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Elhai, Jon D.
- Venue
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2025-06
- Volume
- 379
- Pages
- 258-265
- ISSN
- 0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4408318846
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 13
- FWCI
- 54.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Florence Research (University of Florence) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Keywords
- worry, fear of missing out, smartphone addiction, social media addiction, problematic internet use, university students, I-PACE model, mediation, psychopathology
- MeSH terms
- Smartphone, Internet Addiction Disorder, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Cross-Sectional Studies, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Severity of Illness Index, Students, Behavior, Addictive, Young Adult, Self Report, Social Media
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