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Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) is consistently associated with problematic social media use (PSMU). Moreover, previous studies have shown a significant association between FoMO, self-esteem, and social comparison. However, there is a lack of studies that have investigated the relationship between, FoMO, social comparison, self-esteem, and PSMU in an integrated model. The present study hypothesized that FoMO may influence PSMU through the serial mediating role of social comparison and self-esteem. A cross-sectional study comprising 256 Italian university students (74.4 % female), aged 18 to 38 years (M = 23.05 years; SD = 3.58). The participants completed an online survey assessing the variables of the study. Controlling for age and gender, the results showed positive associations between FoMO, social comparison, and PSMU, and a negative association between FoMO and self-esteem. Self-esteem was also negatively associated with PSMU. It was also found that social comparison and self-esteem sequentially mediated the association between FoMO and PSMU. The present study contributes to understanding the mechanisms that underline the complex effects of FoMO on PSMU.
Servidio et al. (Tue,) studied this question.