Fear of missing out (FoMO) and gaming disorder among Chinese university students: Impulsivity and game time as mediators

Abstract

Background and aims: Research into the fear of missing out (FoMO) has greatly increased in recent years. Given the negative consequences of gaming disorder (GD) among a small minority of individuals, there is an increasing need for research examining the impact of FoMO on GD. However, little is known about the roles of impulsivity and gaming time as mediators in the relationship between FoMO and GD. The present study examined whether impulsivity and gaming time mediated the relationship between FoMO (trait-FoMO and state-FoMO) and GD among Chinese university students, as well as the prevalence of GD.Methods: A total of 1127 university students completed an online survey including the Chinese Trait-State Fear of Missing Out Scale (T-SFoMOS-C), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-Brief (BIS-Brief), gamine time survey, and the Chinese Gaming Disorder Scale (CGDS).Results: The prevalence of GD was 6.4% among Chinese university students. Trait-FoMO was found to indirectly impact GD via impulsivity and gamine time, whereas the direct effect of trait-FoMO on GD and the mediation effects of gaming time were not confirmed. State-FoMO impacted on GD both directly, and indirectly via the mediation effects of impulsivity as well as impulsivity and gaming time.Conclusion: Trait-FoMO on GD was fully mediated via impulsivity and gaming time, whereas state-FoMO on GD was partly mediated via impulsivity and gaming time. Individuals with high levels of FoMO were more likely to show impulsivity and spent a longer time gaming, and was associated with GD. These findings provide insights to incorporate into health prevention programs to help regulate emotion, control impulsivity, and decrease GD.

Fear of Missing Out and Smartphone Addiction Mediates the Relationship Between Positive and Negative Affect and Sleep Quality Among Chinese University Students

“…Recent studies have identified that social media use (5)(6)(7)(8)(9), psychological need satisfaction (1,(10)(11)(12), and personality traits (13)(14)(15)(16)(17) may be considered as risk factors of FoMO. Wolniewicz et al also reported that FoMO was most strongly associated with both problematic smartphone use and normal smartphone use (e.g., video and voice calls, text/instant messaging, email, social networking sites) relative to negative affect and fears of negative and positive evaluation (18), similar to the relationship between FoMO and other types of internet addiction (e.g., Facebook addiction, social networking site [SNS] addiction) (19)(20)(21)(22)(23). State-FoMO has been found to directly and indirectly impact phubbing via problematic Instagram use, whereas trait-FoMO has been indirectly associated with phubbing via state-FoMO and problematic Instagram use (24).…”

Fear Of Missing Out (Sebuah Tinjauan Fenomenologi di Universitas Mandala Waluya

“…Media sosial sendiri dapat diartikan sebagai medium internet yang memberikan kesempatan pada penggunanya untuk menunjukan dirinya secara virtual, berinteraksi secara virtual, bekerja sama secara virtual, berbagi dan berkomunikasi dengan pengguna lain secara virtual, serta membentuk ikatan sosial secara virtual (Kaplan dalam id. m.wikipedia.org, 2021) Adanya perkembangan teknologi, dan komunikasi yang sangat pesat membuat individu berpotensi mengalami fomo (Li, Griffiths, Niu, and Mei, 2020), begitu juga dengan kalangan Mahasiswa di Universitas Mandala Waluya (UMW). Berdasarkan hasil pilot studi yang dilakukan peneliti kepada sejumlah mahasiswa di UMW, menunjukan bahwa fomo telah masuk didalam lingkungan kampus khususnya di kampus UMW, dimana mayoritas mahasiswa memiliki media sosial dan aktif bermedia sosial, mereka selalu berlombalomba menunjukan siapa yang paling popular dimedia sosial, kemudian selalu berusaha mengikuti tren, bahkan tidak sedikit mahasiswa yang melakukan segala cara agar dapat terlihat up to date.…”