Einstein Danielle A, Dabb Carol, Fraser Madeleine
Department of Psychology to School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, NSW, Australia.
School of Behavioural Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Strathfield, NSW, Australia.
Aust J Psychol. 2023 Jun 8;75(1):2217961. doi: 10.1080/00049530.2023.2217961. eCollection 2023.
Social media use is ubiquitous during adolescence, and emerging research suggests an association with anxiety symptoms in some individuals. Two psychological constructs which may moderate this relationship are Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and self-compassion. Higher FoMO tendencies may exacerbate the link between social media use and anxiety symptoms through greater fixation on social comparison, whereas higher self-compassion may weaken this link. The purpose of this study was to examine whether FoMO and self-compassion independently moderate the relationship between social media use and anxiety symptoms in adolescents.
Participants included 951 adolescents ( = 13.69, = 0.72; 54% male). Online questionnaires assessed frequency of social media use, anxiety symptoms, FoMO, and self-compassion.
FoMO moderated the relationship between social media use and anxiety, Δ = .022, Δ(1,945) = 26.26, < .001. Increased social media use was associated with increased anxiety symptoms in adolescents high in FoMO and reduced anxiety for adolescents low in FoMO. Self-compassion was not a significant moderator.
These findings have implications for social media use, public guidelines and clinical practice and support adoption of a discerning approach to adolescent's social media use.
社交媒体的使用在青少年时期无处不在，新出现的研究表明，在一些个体中，社交媒体使用与焦虑症状之间存在关联。可能调节这种关系的两种心理结构是错失恐惧（FoMO）和自我同情。较高的错失恐惧倾向可能会通过更专注于社会比较而加剧社交媒体使用与焦虑症状之间的联系，而较高的自我同情可能会削弱这种联系。本研究的目的是检验错失恐惧和自我同情是否独立调节青少年社交媒体使用与焦虑症状之间的关系。
参与者包括951名青少年（平均年龄 = 13.69岁，标准差 = 0.72；54%为男性）。在线问卷评估了社交媒体使用频率、焦虑症状、错失恐惧和自我同情。
错失恐惧调节了社交媒体使用与焦虑之间的关系，ΔR² = 0.022，ΔF(1,945) = 26.26，p < 0.001。社交媒体使用增加与错失恐惧高的青少年焦虑症状增加以及错失恐惧低的青少年焦虑减少有关。自我同情不是一个显著的调节因素。
这些发现对社交媒体使用、公共指导方针和临床实践具有启示意义，并支持对青少年社交媒体使用采取审慎的方法。
