Fear of missing out as the key pathway linking psychological distress to Facebook addiction and smartphone orientation

Guided by Griffiths’ components model of addiction and the I-PACE (Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution) framework, this study tested whether psychological distress is associated with Facebook addiction and smartphone orientation through two emotion-regulation pathways: fear of missing out (FoMO) and escapism. A cross-sectional sample of N = 480 adults (86.3% female, 11.7% male) completed measures of psychological distress, FoMO, escapism, Facebook addiction, and smartphone orientation. Structural equation modeling was used to compare mediation models linking these variables. Psychological distress was not directly associated with Facebook addiction (β = 0.01, nonsignificant), but it was positively related to FoMO (β = 0.49) and escapism (β = 0.38). FoMO (β = 0.46) and escapism (β = 0.09) were both associated with Facebook addiction. Facebook addiction (β = 0.21), FoMO (β = 0.32), and escapism (β = 0.26) were associated with smartphone orientation. Model comparisons showed that the full mediation model was the most parsimonious and best-fitting representation of the data. Psychological distress appears to be linked to problematic Facebook use and smartphone orientation indirectly, primarily through FoMO and secondarily through escapism. Interventions may therefore benefit from targeting FoMO and maladaptive escapist coping rather than distress alone.