Fear of Missing Out, Social Media Addiction, and Personality Traits Among Nursing Students: Cross-Sectional Study

The growing use of social media has created concerns about addiction, and thus, it is necessary to explore how personality traits and fear of missing out (FOMO) can be utilized to predict social media addiction (SMA).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the connection between personality traits, FOMO, and SMA in university students in Saudi Arabia.

In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from nursing students using the shortened version of the big five inventory, fear of missing out scale, and SMA scale from May to September 2024.

The study achieved a response rate of 66.7% (414/620), finally including a total of 411 participants. The majority of participants (247/411, 60.1%) had low FOMO scores, while SMA scores showed a different pattern, with a larger proportion (261/411, 63.5%) of participants scoring in the moderate range. In terms of gender differences, male participants exhibited higher levels of FOMO (t=3.86, P<.001) and SMA (t=2.51, P=.013) compared to female participants. Additionally, male participants scored higher in neuroticism (t=3.30, P=.001) and openness (t=1.98, P=.048). Regression analysis revealed that both conscientiousness (β=.357, P<.01) and FOMO (β=.213, P<.01) positively predicted SMA, while neuroticism (β=-.223, P<.01) and being female (β=-.098, P<.05) were associated with lower levels of addiction. The resulting model accounted for 35.8% of the variance.

The study provides evidence that conscientiousness and FOMO are positive predictors of SMA, while neuroticism is negatively correlated with it. Moreover, male participants exhibited higher levels of both FOMO and SMA in comparison to female participants. These findings emphasize the impact of personality traits and FOMO on SMA among university students.