The Longitudinal Relationship Between Loneliness and Problematic Social Networking Site Use in College Students: The Mediating Role of Trait-and State-Fear of Missing Out

Yuhua Wang ¹ Yufei Sun ² Taiping Li ^3*

• ¹ School of Education and Psychology, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan, China
• ² School of Psychology, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, Beijing, China
• ³ School of Education, HuaZhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan , China, Wuhan, Hebei Province, China

Aims: This longitudinal study explored the mechanisms of loneliness, trait-fear of missing out (trait-FoMO), and state-fear of missing out (state-FoMO) on problematic social networking site use (PSNSU) among Chinese college students. Methods: Data were collected in two waves. Overall, 417 college students (45.08% male and 54.92% female, with an average age of 19.87±1.05) completed measures of loneliness and PSNSU at the first time point (T1), and measures of trait-FoMO, state-FoMO, and PSNSU 12 months later (T2). Results: (1) there were significant positive correlations among loneliness, trait-FoMO, state-FoMO, and PSNSU; (2)Trait-FoMO and state-FoMO fully mediated the relationship between loneliness and PSNSU; (3) there were two paths of loneliness that influenced PSNSU: loneliness was associated with PSNSU through the mediating role of trait-FoMO alone and the chain mediating role of trait-and state-FoMO. Conclusion: This study highlights the need to accurately distinguish between trait-FoMO and state-FoMO, considering their different underlying mechanisms in addressing problematic network problems among college students.