FoMO, but not self-compassion, moderates the link between social media use and anxiety in adolescence

Social media use is ubiquitous during adolescence, and emerging research suggests an association with anxiety symptoms in some individuals. Two psychological constructs which may moderate this relationship are Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and self-compassion. Higher FoMO tendencies may exacerbate the link between social media use and anxiety symptoms through greater fixation on social comparison, whereas higher self-compassion may weaken this link. The purpose of this study was to examine whether FoMO and self-compassion independently moderate the relationship between social media use and anxiety symptoms in adolescents.

Participants included 951 adolescents (M _age = 13.69, SD = 0.72; 54% male). Online questionnaires assessed frequency of social media use, anxiety symptoms, FoMO, and self-compassion.

FoMO moderated the relationship between social media use and anxiety, ΔR ² = .022, ΔF(1,945) = 26.26, p < .001. Increased social media use was associated with increased anxiety symptoms in adolescents high in FoMO and reduced anxiety for adolescents low in FoMO. Self-compassion was not a significant moderator.

These findings have implications for social media use, public guidelines and clinical practice and support adoption of a discerning approach to adolescent's social media use.