Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that excessive social media engagement leads to anxiety and depression. This study examines if general anxiety disorder (GAD) can predict social media engagement. Anxiety is a subjective state of internal discomfort. Major symptoms of GAD include excessive anxiety and worry that is not easy to control. A total of 348 subjects participated in the study. A path analysis using AMOS software showed that GAD was unable to directly predict social media engagement, b = .10, p > .05. Fear of missing out (FoMO), defined as a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent, FoMO is characterized by the desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing. Since anxiety is an important component of FoMO, as FoMO refers to fears, worries, and anxieties people have about missing out, FoMO was entered as a mediating variable. GAD was able to predict FoMO scores, b = .66, p < .001, and when FoMO was regressed onto social media engagement, the results b = .36, p < .01, showed that FoMO was indeed related to social media engagement. In sum, this study shows that FoMO mediates the relationship between GAD and social media engagement.
Digital Media
This presenter hasn’t added media.
Request media and follow this presentation.
