The effect of fear of missing out on mental health: differences in different solitude behaviors

BACKGROUND: Depression, anxiety, and stress are the main issues that affect the mental health of individuals. Solitude behavior, fear of missing out, and mental health are all closely related. OBJECTIVE: This study was intended to investigate the relationship between solitude behavior, fear of missing out, and mental health. METHODS: Short Form of Solitude Behavior Scale, Fear of Missing Out scale, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 were employed in this study to investigate 616 college students. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 for basic data organization, and Mplus 8.3 was used to complete the analysis of the mediation model. RESULTS: (1) Positive solitude was positively associated with eccentricity and negatively related to loneliness; social avoidance positively correlated with eccentricity and loneliness. (2) Social avoidance and loneliness affected mental health through the mediating effect of fear of missing out, whereas positive solitude and eccentricity did not affect mental health through fear of missing out. Moreover, the results still held in the model with depression, anxiety, and stress as dependent variables. CONCLUSION: The roles of different solitude behavior in the relationship between fear of missing out and mental health differed. Social avoidance and loneliness as not self-determined solitude could activate the fear of missing out, which could affect mental health.