Journal
HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 423-431Publisher
WILEY-HINDAWI
DOI: 10.1002/hbe2.259
Keywords
anxiety; Arab; depression; fear of missing out; internet addiction; mediation; problematic smartphone use; rumination; smartphone addiction; smartphone usage
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This study examined the potential mediational variables of fear of missing out (FOMO) and rumination in accounting for the relationship between depression and anxiety levels with problematic smartphone use (PSU). The results showed that both FOMO and rumination significantly mediated the associations between depression and anxiety with PSU severity. These findings contribute to the understanding of the role of FOMO and rumination in problematic smartphone use.
Social scientists have increasingly examined psychological constructs that may mediate the relationship between depressive and anxious affect and excessive, problematic smartphone use (PSU). The aim of this study was to examine two potential mediational variables - the fear of missing out (FOMO) and rumination - in accounting for the relationship between levels of both depression and anxiety with PSU. A sample of 264 Emirati (citizens of the United Arab Emirates) college students completed measures of depression, anxiety, FOMO, rumination, and PSU via an online-administered survey. At the bivariate correlational level, all psychological variables were significantly related to PSU severity. Mediational analyses revealed that FOMO significantly mediated relations between both depression and anxiety with PSU severity. These results were mirrored when rumination was tested as a mediator. This study joins growing recent work on the importance of FOMO and rumination to PSU, and this is the first study to test these psychological variables related to PSU in a Middle Eastern sample. Our results suggest that both FOMO and rumination may be important factors accounting for this association.
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