Doomscrolling: Its Relationships with Fear of Missing Out, Netlessphobia, Internet Addiction, and Psychological Distress in University Students

Introduction: This study explores the structural associations connecting digital anxieties (fear of missing out [FoMo] and netlessphobia) to psychological distress through intermediate digital behaviors (doomscrolling and Internet addiction) within an integrated Interaction-Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) and cognitive-behavioral framework. Methods: Utilizing a cross-sectional online design, a convenience sample of 608 Iranian university students completed validated Farsi versions of the Doomscrolling Scale (DS), Fear of Missing Out Scale (FoMOs), Fırat Netlessphobia Scale (F-NPS), Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) via Google Forms. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Maximum Likelihood estimation and 5000 bias-corrected bootstrap resamples was conducted to evaluate direct and indirect pathways. Results: The structural model exhibited acceptable fit. Direct paths from netlessphobia and FoMo to psychological distress were statistically non-significant, supporting a full indirect association pattern. Netlessphobia demonstrated a strong positive indirect association with psychological distress, predominantly operating via Internet addiction and secondarily through doomscrolling. Conversely, FoMo was indirectly associated with psychological distress exclusively through Internet addiction, as its indirect pathway via doomscrolling was statistically non-significant. The model explained 43.6% of the total variance in psychological distress. Discussion: Digital fears serve as distal correlates of student psychological distress, primarily operating through generalized Internet addiction rather than negative content monitoring alone. Interventions should prioritize addressing compulsive technology use and disconnection anxieties.