Psychology Research and Behavior Management

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Trait Anxiety and Social Media Fatigue: Fear of

Missing Out as a Mediator

Agata H Świątek, Małgorzata Szcześniak & Grażyna Bielecka

To cite this article: Agata H Świątek, Małgorzata Szcześniak & Grażyna Bielecka (2021) Trait
Anxiety and Social Media Fatigue: Fear of Missing Out as a Mediator, Psychology Research and
Behavior Management, , 1499-1507, DOI: 10.2147/PRBM.S319379

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S319379

© 2021 Świątek et al.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Trait Anxiety and Social Media Fatigue: Fear of

Missing Out as a Mediator

Agata H Świątek Background: Interdisciplinary literature indicates different correlates of social media fati­
Małgorzata Szcześniak gue (hereinafter: SMF). Some studies show that high levels of anxiety may induce lowered
Grażyna Bielecka Internet use and lead social media users to withdraw from Internet activities. Since the
relationship between anxiety and social media use is complex, it is important to investigate
Institute of Psychology, University of
Szczecin, Szczecin, 71-017, Poland mediating factors that may indirectly contribute to or exacerbate this association. Therefore,
the main aim of this study is to verify whether fear of missing out (hereinafter: FoMO) is
a potential factor accounting for why anxiety is associated with SMF.
Participants, Methods and Data Collection: The research was conducted on a group of
264 adolescents and adults (85% women). The mean age of the respondents was M = 23.76
with SD = 5.98 (range = 14–50 years). The data were collected via online social networking
among college students, their family members and friends. The participants answered the
Trait Anxiety Scale (TAS), Social Media Fatigue Scale (SMFS), Fear of Missing Out Scale
(FoMO), and Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R).
Results: The outcomes showed that respondents with higher levels of trait anxiety report
more intense cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and overall online fatigue. Concurrently,
individuals who experience FoMO on the Internet declare being tired of social media use.
Moreover, FoMO mediates the association between trait anxiety and all three dimensions of
SMF, and its overall result.
Conclusion: The present research increases our understanding of the possible role of
apprehension related to missing out on the anxiety and fatigue connected to engagement in
social media. It is possible to assess that trait anxiety might induce higher SMF when
individuals experience a general apprehension that others are doing or having things that
they do not.
Keywords: anxiety, social media fatigue, fear of missing out, adolescents, adults

Introduction
There is no consensus on the concept that captures the meaning of the decreasing
interest that is found within the number of active users of social media. This
phenomenon is typically called social network/networking services/media
fatigue.1 Since social media fatigue (SMF) is the most commonly used term, we
assumed it in the current study.
SMF is a specific type of subjective tiredness related to human activity on the
social media platforms.2–4 Ravindran et al5 define SMF as

A subjective, multi-dimensional user experience, including sensations such as fatigue,

Correspondence: Małgorzata Szcześniak
irritation, anger, disappointment, alertness, loss of interest or reduced need/motivation
Email [email protected] associated with various aspects of using social networks and interaction.

Psychology Research and Behavior Management 2021:14 1499–1507 1499

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Bright et al6,7 define SMF as the tendency of users to Another, less prevalent,9 approach, but the one chosen
withdraw from involvement in social networks. The defi­ in the present research, denotes anxiety as a cause of SMF.
nition found on the Techopedia website describes SMF as The cogent rationale behind this type of directionality rests
on some theoretical perspectives. For example, trait anxi­
Users’ tendency to pull back from social media when they
ety is considered as a personal property which can affect
become overwhelmed with too many social media sites,
thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.21 Given that the defini­
too many friends and followers and too much time spent
online maintaining these connections.8 tion of SMF proposed by Zhang et al12 conveys in cogni­
tive (being overwhelmed by the amount of information),
A systematic review of previous studies conducted by Dhir emotional (feeling annoyed, irritated or nervous when
et al2 shows that SMF can be considered in the context of approaching social media), and behavioral (forgetting the
online social networking sites and mobile instant content or lacking new ideas when updating one’s status
messengers. on social media sites) dimensions, it is likely that anxiety
Although Kang et al9 observe that there is little may affect SMF. Moreover, the propensity to be anxious
research that explores why people abandon social media, expresses itself in a tendency to interpret (or not) stimuli
interdisciplinary literature indicates various correlates and as menacing.22 In the case of social media, not all users
determinants of SMF. One of the most common factors cease using social networking sites and mobile instant
regards information overload. When the amount of online messengers even if there are objective causes to do so. It
information surpasses the human capacity of processing it, may indicate that SMF depends, among other traits, also
individuals may show reduced interest in social media.2,7 on anxiety.
Other variables associated with SMF that are frequently From an empirical point of view, some studies show
mentioned are related to difficulties in comprehending and that high levels of anxiety may induce lowered social
handling privacy concerns and self-disclosure.2,4,7,10–12 media use.23–25 In this regard, Keles et al26 point out that
Still other studies confirm that stress and personal traits13 anxiety and psychological distress are more likely to lead
are important antecedents of SMF. However, fewer social media users to compulsive engagement in Internet
researchers point to anxiety6,11 and fear of missing out activities or to withdraw from them. High anxiety may not
(FoMO)11,14 as important correlates or causes of SMF only lead to attempts to avoid computers27 but even pro­
although such relationships seem entirely theoretically voke social media burnout.28 Such outcomes are under­
and empirically justified. Following this line of thought, standable if we look at the studies that investigate the
we assumed that trait anxiety and FoMO may play effects of personality traits on SMF. For example, Lee
a relevant role in people’s tendency to remove themselves et al29 confirm that more neurotic Facebook users, who
from social media. are inclined to be more anxious and worried, present
Empirical research on the relationship between anxi­ higher levels of tiredness of social networking sites.
ety and SMF, although relatively recent,2 seems very Based on the above discussion, the hypothesis is:
promising. One more widespread line of investigation
H1: Trait anxiety is positively related to SMF.
suggests the existence of negative psychological and
physiological consequences of SMF. For example, Dhir According to different studies, SMF could be
et al,2 employing a repeated cross-sectional methodol­ a consequence of FoMO, as well. Bright and Logan14
ogy, show that compulsive media use induced SMF report that a persistent concern about others’ rewarding
among Indian Facebook users, which subsequently experiences from which one is excluded has a dominant
resulted in increased anxiety. Pontes15 indicate anxiety influence of SMF. The feeling of being disconnected from
as one of the outcomes of social media usage among activities that family or friends enjoy indirectly predicts
Portuguese school students. Increased media multitask­ media fatigue over time through mediation of compulsive
ing is associated with higher social anxiety symptoms.16 social media use.2,12 Similarly, the urge to keep in perma­
Further, the quantity of time spent using social media nent contact with others is associated with social media
leads emerging adults to higher levels of anxiety.17–19 fatigue through problematic social media use.30 Zhang
Problematic social media is also significantly associated et al31 mention FoMO among other relevant stressors of
with higher anxiety among the Lebanese population.20 tiredness in the context of social media use, such as:

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perceived overload, compulsive use, time cost, and privacy more than 10 years, and 8% acknowledged less than 5
concerns. Although, in a few other studies, FoMO has no years. With respect to the declared time spent per day on
impact on fatigue among social media instant messaging,11 social media, many participants indicated 3 or more hours
which contradicts some prior analyses, we assume that: (47%), followed by those who use them for around 3 hours
(28%), 2 hours (18%), and less than 1 hour (2%). Only 5%
H2: FoMO is positively associated with SMF. of participants could not say how much time they spent
online. Referring to the use of social media sites, the
Keles et al26 suggest that since the relationship
respondents claimed that they use: Facebook (256 partici­
between anxiety and social media use is complex, it is
pants); YouTube (235); Instagram (188); WhatsApp (90);
important to investigate mediating factors that may indir­
Snapchat (85); TikTok (77); Pinterest (51); Twitter (22);
ectly contribute to or exacerbate this association. Until
LinkedIn (8); and ResearchGate (3).
recently, scarce research has been conducted on the exis­
tence of an indirect connection between the above-
Data Collection
mentioned variables. For example, FoMO has been found
In the current study, the data were collected via online
to be a mediator between personal traits and social media
social networking. We used a convenience sampling
engagement.32 Moreover, Elhai et al33 observe that FoMO
approach among the University of Szczecin students who
mediates the relationship between anxiety and the fre­
were encouraged to tell their family members and friends
quency of smartphone use, and the severity of problematic
to sign up to participate in the research. A principal criter­
smartphone use among Chinese young adults. These out­
ion of taking part in the study was to use at least one of the
comes suggest that FoMO may be an important factor
social media platforms (eg: Facebook, YouTube,
accounting for why anxiety is associated with SMF.
Instagram, etc.). All respondents were notified about the
More specifically, individuals who tend to report anxiety
aim of the study, disclosed their willingness to take part in
may experience higher overall levels of FoMO, which, in
it, and signed informed and written consent for their parti­
turn, may be linked to fatigue resulting from social media
cipation in the research. They were also assured of the
use. Considering that trait anxiety consists in anticipation
confidentiality of their information. The underage partici­
of a future threat,34 it can be assumed that social media
pants were admitted to the study after obtaining their
users high in this personality trait may fear being excluded
parents’/guardians’ consent. The study protocol was
from online social interactions, events, or information.
approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Institute of
This, in turn, may cause a sense of tiredness related to
Psychology at the University of Szczecin (KB 2/2021) and
continuous social media engagement. Therefore, since the
performed in accordance with Declaration of Helsinki.
knowledge about the potential mechanisms that explain
the trait anxiety-SMF relationship is still limited, the
Measurement
third goal of the present study is to examine the mediatory Anxiety
role of FoMO in the relationship between being anxious The Trait Anxiety Scale is a Polish tool (Skala Lęk–Cecha,
and experiencing tiredness related to the use of the SL-C) designed by Piksa et al35 to measure the intensity of
Internet. Accordingly, we hypothesize that: anxiety understood as a personality trait. The scale
assesses the tendency to perceive a situation as threatening
H3: FoMO mediates the relationship between trait anxiety
and SMF. or to predict future events in terms of danger. Such anxiety
manifests itself by characteristic symptoms on the cogni­
tive (eg: “I have recurring thoughts that I cannot let go
Methods and Materials of”), behavioral (eg: “I have trouble falling asleep”), emo­
Participants tional (eg: “I feel like I am more sensitive than others”),
The research was conducted on a group of 264 adolescents and somatic (eg: “My muscles feel tense”) levels. The SL-
and adults (85% women). The mean age of the respon­ C is a valid one-factor tool and consists of 15 items.
dents was M = 23.76 with SD = 5.98 (range = 14–50 Answers are given on a 4-point scale, where the answer
years). The participants were asked how long they had “often” = three points, and the answer “never” = zero
been using social media. More than half of them (55%) points. Two statements (9 and 11) are reverse scored.
replied with between 5 and 10 years, almost 37% declared The SL-C score is the sum of all points. The possible

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scores range from 0 (minimum trait anxiety intensity) to ranges between 10 and 50, where 50 indicates higher
45 (maximum trait anxiety intensity). The original levels of fear of missing out. The Cronbach’s coefficient
Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.86, while in the present of the original version of the scale presented very good
study, α was 0.90. internal consistency (α = 0.90) and the α in the present
study demonstrated good reliability (α = 0.82).
Social Media Fatigue
The Social Media Fatigue Scale (SMFS) was developed by Revised Life Orientation Test
Zhang et al12 and adapted into Polish by Świątek et al.1 It The Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) developed by
is a 15-item scale which measures three dimensions of Scheier et al38 and translated into Polish by Juczyński39
tiredness with social networks. The cognitive dimension was used to measure self-reported dispositional optimism.
refers to information overload (eg: “I am frequently over­ The questionnaire includes 10 items from 1 which means
whelmed by the amount of information available on social “strongly disagree” to 7 which means “strongly agree.”
media sites”). The behavioral dimension manifests itself in The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the original version of the
the form of forgetting activities that were supposed to be scale presented good internal consistency (between α =
performed (eg: “I am likely to forget the content of the 0.70 and α = 0.80) and the α in the present study demon­
status that I intended to repost”). The emotional dimension strated good reliability (α = 0.82). This test was chosen to
includes the unpleasant emotions associated with logging check for a possible confounding variable.
into an account and receiving different notifications or
invitations (eg: “I feel nervous when receiving friend Statistical Analysis
request on social media sites”). Each of the subscales All of the analyses were conducted using the IBM SPSS
contains 5 items. The respondent gives answers on Statistics 23.0 software and the PROCESS macro for
a seven-point scale, where 1 means “totally disagree” SPSS. Descriptive statistics of the means, standard devia­
and 7 means “totally agree.” The overall score (sum of tion, skewness, and kurtosis were checked, with the nor­
all points obtained) can range between 15 and 75. The mality assumption met in the case of all of the variables
higher the sum, the more intense the social media fatigue. considered in the current study. The internal reliability
The exploratory factor analysis showed that 15 items (Cronbach’s α) was calculated for all factors employed.
loaded strongly to 3 factors, exactly as in the Chinese The correlation analysis was performed using Pearson’s
version of the SMFS. Cognitive fatigue accounted for r coefficient. A regression analysis was adopted to diag­
42.131% of the total variance, behavioral – 10.158%, nose multicollinearity since we expected a rather strong
and emotional – 8.717%. The values of the internal con­ correlation between trait anxiety and FoMO. The regres­
sistency obtained in the present study for the cognitive sion model was also used to check the data for possible
(αcog = 0.85), behavioral (αbeh = 0.83), and emotional outliers. We computed the Mahalanobis distance and
(αemot = 0.79) dimensions were considered satisfactory. Cook’s distance. The participants’ sex, age, dispositional
The Cronbach’s alpha for the 15-item SMFS was αsmfs level of optimism, and hours and years of time spent
= 0.89. online were included to control for their implicit effect
on the association between trait anxiety, considered as the
Fear of Missing Out independent variable, and SMF in its cognitive, beha­
The Fear of Missing Out Scale (FoMO) developed by vioral, emotional, and overall dimensions. There are
Przybylski et al36 and translated into Polish by some theoretical and empirical grounds for the examina­
Tomczyk37 was used to measure the sense that others are tion of the confounders mentioned above. Firstly, accord­
having a gratifying experience which one is absent from. ing to Zhang et al,40 males are more likely to suffer from
The scale is a one-factor 10-item self-report tool that SMF than females. However, Jackson et al41 suggest that
relates to anxiety about the need to keep up-to-date with women tend to report more computer anxiety than men.
what is happening with others in the context of social With regard to optimism, it seems that a lower level of this
media (eg: “I get anxious when I do not know what my personality trait may be related to problematic Internet
friends are up to”). The respondents rate each item on use.42 With respect to age, it is well supported that
a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 means “not at all true of younger users of social media are inclined to use more
me” and 5 means “extremely true of me.” The total sum technologies and be more frequent users of different

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domains of the Internet.43 Finally, there is some evidence higher than 5.047 and a tolerance value of less than 0.2
that the average weekday time correlates positively with as characteristic of multicollinearity.48 On the grounds that
problematic Internet use.44 the analysis of multiple regression provided a VIF of 1.08–
The PROCESS macro for SPSS (version 3.2) was run to 2.08 and a tolerance rate starting from of 0.48 to 0.93, the
establish the extent to which trait anxiety influences SMF multicollinearity indexes indicated little demonstration of
through FoMO. Trait anxiety was the independent variable multicollinearity for these data. The Mahalanobis distance
and SMF was the dependent variable (cognitive, behavioral, procedure was adopted, using the chi-square distribution
emotional dimension, overall result). FoMO was included as with a probability estimate of p < 0.001 for a case being an
a mediating variable. Thus, there were four single-level outlier.49 Three of 264 cases were classified as presumed
mediation models no. 4,45 involving three-variable systems. multivariate outliers (the lowest values of p were: 0.00004,
For the present analysis, the 95% confidence interval of the 0.00018, and 0.00043). However, since the correlational
indirect effects was calculated using 5000 bootstrapped and mediational statistics with and without outliers were
resamples. This method appears to be superior to traditional compatible, we opted to retain the matrix with the three
mediation analyses because it does not require the data to detected outliers. Additionally, Cook’s value (between
adhere to assumptions of normality.46 0.000 and 0.085) was under the point at which the
researcher should be apprehensive, that is, less than 1,49
implying that the cases are not problematic in relation to
Results
having a significant impact on the model.50 Hierarchical
Descriptive Statistics and Initial Analysis regression analyses showed that none of sex, age, disposi­
The values of the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and
tional level of optimism, nor hours or years spent online
kurtosis tests are presented in Table 1. Despite statistically
made a considerable unique contribution to the model,
significant (p < 0.001) values of the normality test, the
explaining only 6.6% of the variance (R2 = 0.066): sex
skewness and kurtosis values were in a relatively low
(β = −0.107, t = −1.967, p = 0.050), dispositional level of
range of ±1. Therefore it was found that the deviation
optimism (β = 0.113, t = 1.686, p = 0.093), age (β = 0.070,
from the normal distribution is not meaningful and the
t = 1.176, p = 0.241), hours spent online (β = −0.062, t =
variables of trait anxiety, fear of missing out, cognitive,
−1.131, p = 0.259), and years spent online (β = 0.019, t =
behavioral, emotional, and overall media fatigue, and life
0.342, p = 0.733). The predictors explained an additional
orientation were close to the normal distribution.
23% of the variance even after controlling for the effects
of potential confounders.
Multicollinearity and Confounding
Variables Correlations
Although no agreement exists with regard to which the Congruent with the hypotheses (H1 and H2), trait anxiety
Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) cut-off score most closely correlated positively with all three dimensions of SMF and
corresponds with collinearity, we accepted a VIF index its overall outcome (Table 2). Specifically, the results
suggest that participants with higher levels of trait anxiety
report more intense cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and
Table 1 Descriptive Statistics for Trait Anxiety, Fear of Missing
Out, Social Media Fatigue, and Life Orientation (N = 264) overall online fatigue. Hence, anxious Internet users dis­
play fatigue related to social media. Concurrently, FoMO
Variable M SD Skewness Kurtosis
presented a similar pattern of results, showing a positive
SL_C 41.27 9.35 −0.370 −0.369 association with the three dimensions of SMF and its
FoMO 29.44 7.89 0.157 −0.323
overall outcome. Therefore, it can be assumed that indivi­
SMFS_C 18.93 7.71 0.029 −0.851
duals who experience fear of missing out declare being
SMFS_B 15.13 7.50 0.487 −0.497
SMFS_E 14.11 6.89 0.642 −0.196 tired of social media use.
SMFS_O 48.18 18.53 0.291 −0.420
LOT-R 18.03 6.27 −0.081 −0.942 Mediation
Abbreviations: SL_C, trait anxiety; FoMO, fear of missing out; SMFS_C, cognitive For the purpose of further investigation of the relationship
social media fatigue; SMFS_B, behavioral social media fatigue; SMFS_E, emotional
between the assessment of trait anxiety and cognitive,
social media fatigue; SMFS_O, overall social media fatigue; LOT_R, revised life
orientation test. behavioral, emotional, and overall SMF, FoMO was

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Table 2 Correlations Between Dimensions of SMFS, FoMO, and SL_C (N = 264)

SMFS_C SMFS_B SMFS_E SMFS_O FoMO SL_C

SMFS_C 1
SMFS_B 0.562*** 1
SMFS_E 0.591*** 0.507*** 1
SMFS_O 0.863*** 0.827*** 0.823*** 1
FoMO 0.360*** 0.486*** 0.414*** 0.501*** 1
SL_C 0.299*** 0.328*** 0.287*** 0.364*** 0.529*** 1
Note: ***p < 0.001.
Abbreviations: SMFS_C, cognitive social media fatigue; SMFS_B, behavioral social media fatigue; SMFS_E, emotional social media fatigue; SMFS_O, overall social media
fatigue; FoMO, fear of missing out; SL_C, trait anxiety.

introduced as a potential mediator which has an effect on are strongly coinciding constructs, it is cogent to expect
the existing relationship between the independent variable that an anxious predisposition might coexist with SMF.
(trait anxiety) and the dependent variable (cognitive, beha­ Consequently, if lower emotional stability predicts the
vioral, emotional, and overall SMF) (Figure 1). likelihood to engage excessively in different online activ­
The PROCESS macro for SPSS (Table 3) showed that ities, this could mean that individuals who have a tendency
the direct effect (c path) decreased in value after the toward anxiety may also demonstrate more intense SMF
introduction of fear of missing out in all four models (c’ than those who are less anxious. By analogy, since socially
path). Consistent with the detected results, it can be anxious individuals are generally vulnerable to proble­
asserted that FoMO mediated the association between matic Internet use,16,52–54 it may mean that generally
trait anxiety and all three dimensions of, and overall SMF. anxious people become tired of constantly using social
media, as well. Indeed, Teng et al55 report that anxiety
Discussion and fatigue are considered dominant factors within the
The aim of the present study was to verify whether: 1) trait context of negative usage of social media.
anxiety is positively related to SMF; 2) FoMO is posi­ Secondly, FoMO correlates positively with SMF, thus
tively associated with SMF; and 3) FoMO mediates the suggesting that a pervading concern that others might be
relationship between trait anxiety and SMF. All hypoth­ having fulfilling experiences which one is lacking36 can
eses found their confirmation, being consistent with pre­ result in a tendency to retreat from social media usage.
vious research. Being overwhelmed by the continuous FoMO might lead
Firstly, the positive association between trait anxiety to a subjective feeling of tiredness and avoidance of social
and fatigue related to social media use may be explained media. In fact, a continuous urge to keep in touch and
through some studies which show that people who display share moments with other Internet users was found to
higher levels of neuroticism and negative affectivity tend affect reduced interest in social media and boredom.56
to be drawn to social networking sites more than their less Moreover, individuals with higher levels of FoMO tended
neurotic counterparts.51 Since neuroticism and trait anxiety to check their social media more frequently than those

Figure 1 Theoretical model of the role of FoMO in the relationship between trait anxiety and cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and overall social media fatigue.
Notes: *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001.
Abbreviation: ni, nonsignificant.

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Table 3 Role of Fear of Missing Out in the Relationship Between Trait Anxiety and Dimensions of Social Media Fatigue
a path b path c path c' path Indirect Effect B (SE) Lower CI Upper CI

TA – F – CF 0.44*** 0.27*** 0.24*** 0.12* 0.1221 0.0326 0.0582 0.1859

TA – F – BF 0.44*** 0.26*** 0.41*** 0.07(ni) 0.1844 0.0362 0.1173 0.2593
TA – F – EF 0.44*** 0.31*** 0.21*** 0.06(ni) 0.1420 0.0324 0.0814 0.2096
TA – F – OF 0.44*** 1.00*** 0.72*** 0.27* 0.4485 0.0873 0.2880 0.6279
Notes: *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001.
Abbreviations: ni, nonsignificant; TA, trait anxiety; F, fear of missing out; CF, cognitive fatigue; BF, behavioral fatigue; EF, emotional fatigue; OF, overall fatigue.

who have lower FoMO in order to keep pace with their social media. It would be beneficial to conduct similar
friends’ plans.32 Hence, constantly seeking out updates studies in the traditional way, in the form of paper and
may produce a feeling of exhaustion. pencil.
Finally, FoMO mediates the relationship between trait
anxiety and SMF. In other words, our findings suggest that
Conclusion
trait anxiety might induce higher SMF when individuals To our knowledge, there are no studies on the media­
experience a general apprehension that others are doing or tory effect of FoMO on the relationship between trait
having things that they do not. Since trait anxiety anxiety and SMF. Therefore, the present research
expresses the general tendency to be upset in stressful increases our understanding of the possible role of
situations,57 it is understandable that the feeling of being apprehension related to missing out on the anxiety
absent from important or rewarding events happening else­ and fatigue connected to the engagement in social
where might lead to tiredness of social media. Moreover, media. It is possible to assess that people who feel
trait anxiety is associated with anticipation of distress58 absent from others’ rewarding experiences shared
and the negative interpretation of specific ambiguous online suffer from stronger anxiety and show higher
situations.59 Hence, anxiety may lead to fear of being levels of SMF.
excluded from online social interactions which, in turn,
can cause a sense of tiredness related to continuous social
media engagement.
Data Sharing Statement
The datasets used during the current study are available
from the corresponding author.
Limitations
Despite the study’s strengths, it is not without limitations.
Acknowledgment
Although the findings attested the hypothesized media­
The authors thank the study participants who completed
tory model, the cross-sectional character of the data col­
the questionnaires.
lected at a single point in time does not consent to
provide causal conclusions. We recognize that in future
studies, researchers should consider alternative designs Author Contributions
based on longitudinal and experimental approaches All authors made a significant contribution to the work
which are regarded to have substantial predictive value. reported, whether that is in the conception, study
Moreover, obtaining significant statistical effects from design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and
mediation analyses does not imply that FoMO is interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in draft­
a mediator in the relationship between trait anxiety and ing, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave
SMF. It can also be assumed that anxiety might be final approval of the version to be published; have
a result of higher SMF, as shown by other agreed on the journal to which the article has been
researchers.2,16–19 In our study, there was also an unequal submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects
ratio of women to men. Therefore, in future research, of the work.
greater participation of male respondents should be pro­
vided. Finally, the recruitment of the sample set solely Disclosure
online could distort the data given the study’s focus on The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

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