Fear of Missing Out

<p>The development of social media addiction has become a phenomenon creating a potential</p><p>public health crisis. While research has found correlations between the development of social</p><p>media addiction and rising levels of fear of missing out there is limited research surrounding the</p><p>influence of smartphone ease of access. This study examined the moderating effects of</p><p>smartphone ease of access to social media platforms and assessed appropriate treatment</p><p>interventions. This study used an experimental within-subject design with 641 participants ages</p><p>19-32 years. Part I of this study measured the participants' levels of smartphone addiction fear</p><p>of missing out and social media addiction at the initiation of the study. In Part II 189</p><p>participants were asked to deactivate social media applications on their smartphones for two</p><p>weeks and limit desktop usage to two days per week no more than one hour each day. Variables</p><p>were measured again at the conclusion of the two weeks. The results reflected that the</p><p>relationship between fear of missing out and social media addiction was significantly moderated</p><p>by smartphone addiction and revealed a significant difference in the mean scores for both</p><p>instruments measuring fear of missing out FOMO and social media addiction BSMAS. The</p><p>results revealed a slight increase in the mean scores for FOMO and BSMAS which may indicate</p><p>the need for a longer period of abstinence for smartphone social media use to reduce the levels of</p><p>FOMO and BSMAS.</p>