1 of 1

Fear of Missing Out (FoMO): Substance Use During COVID-19

Among Young Adults

Kajsa Sibley, Yvonne Dai, Vitica Arnold, Morgan McLoughlin,

Shauna Simon, M.A., & Larry Jamner, Ph.D

University of California, Irvine, Department of Psychological Science

Background

Hypotheses

Method

Results

Discussion

References

Hypothesis 1: High levels of FoMO will predict higher levels of substance use in young adults

Hypothesis 2: Loneliness will magnify FoMO-substance use linkage

Hypothesis 3 (Exploratory): High levels of FoMO are associated with technology-based substance use (e.g., using substances via social media/communication related applications)

COVID-19 pandemic is associated with elevated negative feelings, extreme levels of worry, and increased substance use¹

Young adults are at particularly high risk of substance abuse²

Associated with coping with distress and feelings of loneliness (i.e., subjective social disconnection)³’⁴

Factors contributing to increased substance use during social distancing practices are not fully understood

Loneliness and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO; the anticipation of missing out on rewarding events⁵) may be influencing factors

The current study fills a gap in the literature concerning the role of FoMO in substance use⁶ during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants

198 young adults from California (145 Female)
Mean age = 21.38
Race/ethnicity: 15.0% White/Caucasian, 48% Asian,

4.0% Black/African American, 17.0% Latinx/Hispanic,

5.0% Middle Eastern, 10.0% Mixed

Procedure

Online Qualtrics survey (197 items)

Measures

[1] Park, CL, et al. 2020, Journ of Gen Inter Med, 35: 2296 [2] Vasilenko, S, et al. 2017, Drug and Alco Depen, 180: 260 [3] Andrews, JL, et al. 2020, Tren in Cog Sci 24: 585

[4] Brooks, SK, et al. 2020, The Lancet, 395: 912 [5] Przybylski, AK, et al. 2013, Comp in Hum Behav, 29: 1841 [6] Riordan, BC, et al. 2019, Current Psychology

This study adds to the limited research on FoMO and substance use and provides support for FoMO as a novel predictor of substance use in young adults. � Consistent with Hypothesis 1, FoMO significantly predicted the use of three of the four tested substances and was also a marginally significant predictor of virtual substance use (offering limited support for Hypothesis 3). These findings merit comparison in post-vaccination conditions. Future research should explore the relevance of FoMO in designing more effective and individualized substance use interventions for young adults.

FoMO significantly predicted alcohol use, controlling for gender, age, and race.

[b = .03, 95%CI(.00, .05), p = .020]

FoMO significantly predicted marijuana use, controlling for gender, age, and race.

[b = .03, 95%CI(.00, .06), p = .008]

FoMO significantly predicted tobacco use, controlling for gender, age, and race.

[b = .02, 95%CI(.00, .03), p = .008]

Alcohol Dependence

Marijuana Dependence

Tobacco Dependence

E-Cigarette Dependence

FoMO did not significantly predict e-cigarette use, controlling for gender, age, and race [b = .01, 95%CI(-.01, .02), p = .228]

Significant negative interaction predicting alcohol and tobacco use

[b_alc. = -.02, 95% CI(-.03, <-.01), p = .016; b_tob. = -.01, 95% CI(-.01, <.01), p =.038]

Marginally significant association between FoMO and virtual substance use (p = .056)

For every one unit increase in FoMO, the likelihood of using substances virtually increases by 5%

[OR = 1.05, 95% CI(1.00, 1.10), p = .056]

FoMO

Loneliness

Virtual Alcohol & Tobacco Use

FoMO

Virtual

Substance Use

Hypothesis 1

Hypothesis 2

Hypothesis 3

Substance Use

Alcohol use: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
Marijuana use: Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test-Revised (CUDIT-R)
Tobacco use: Penn State Nicotine Dependence Index
E-Cigarette use: Penn State Electronic Cigarette Dependence Index

FoMO

10-item Fear of Missing Out Scale (FoMOs)⁵

Loneliness

6-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale

Virtual Substance Use

Dichotomous response (yes/no) “Have you engaged in virtual substance use during quarantine/stay at home orders? (e.g., drinking with friends via Zoom)”

Contrary to Hypothesis 2, higher levels of loneliness weakened, rather than strengthened, the link between FoMO and substance use. Further research should explore potential explanations for this. For instance, loneliness may diminish motivation to engage in social and recreational activities (including substance use), counteracting the expected effects of FoMO.

Limitations include the high proportion of female participants, potential over-or under-reporting of substance use, and small sample sizes for each substance type and virtual substance use (i.e., N = 51).