Can FOMO Drive You to Drink?

Oct. 18, 2022 – This simply in: College college students drink, use medicine, and break the regulation. 

OK, in order that’s not precisely information. But that is: A “fear of missing out” – playfully termed FOMO within the social media period – can predict these dangerous behaviors with stunning accuracy. That’s what researchers from Southern Connecticut State University present in a new examine printed in PLOS One. 

After surveying 472 undergrads (ages 18 to 24), researchers discovered that college students with greater ranges of FOMO have been extra more likely to have interaction in tutorial misconduct, drug and alcohol use, and breaking the regulation. 

FOMO is the “chronic apprehension that one is missing rewarding/fun experiences peers are experiencing,” the paper says. It’s commonest between ages 18 and 34, however anybody can really feel it – and most of the people (practically 90%) have. 

“Almost all of us experience FOMO with most hopefully not engaging in any serious maladaptive, dangerous, or illegal behavior,” says Paul McKee, a PhD scholar within the Cognitive Neuroscience Admitting Program at Duke University and the examine’s lead creator. “That being said, there is evidence, in this study and others, that those with higher levels of FOMO may be more likely to experience negative mental health consequences like increased anxiety or depression, or engage in less-than-desired behaviors.” 

Students within the examine accomplished a 10-question quiz designed to evaluate FOMO ranges. They have been requested to price on a 1-to-5 scale how true every of the next statements have been: 

1. I worry others have extra rewarding experiences than me.

2. I worry my pals have extra rewarding experiences than me.

3. I get anxious after I discover out my pals are having enjoyable with out me.

4. I get anxious after I do not know what my pals are as much as.

5. It is necessary that I perceive my pals’ “in jokes.”

6. Sometimes, I ponder if I spend an excessive amount of time maintaining with what’s going on.

7. It bothers me after I miss a possibility to satisfy up with pals.

8. When I’ve an excellent time, it is necessary for me to share the main points on-line (e.g. updating standing).

9. When I miss out on a deliberate get-together, it bothers me.

10. When I am going on trip, I proceed to maintain tabs on what my pals are doing.

The greater a scholar’s common FOMO rating, the extra doubtless they have been to have engaged in dangerous behaviors. 

“Maladaptive behaviors were more likely for someone with a 3 than a 2, but even more so likely for a 4 compared to the 3,” says McKee. 

Those behaviors included classroom incivility (like utilizing your cellphone throughout class), plagiarism, alcohol and drug use, stealing, and giving out unlawful and prescribed drugs. And the associations remained even after controlling for gender, residing scenario, and social and financial standing. 

In the tip, the researchers have been ready to make use of FOMO to foretell whether or not a scholar would have interaction in tutorial misconduct with as much as 87% accuracy, drug use with as much as 78% accuracy, unlawful conduct with as much as 75% accuracy, and alcohol use with as much as 73% accuracy. 

That’s spectacular, particularly when you think about {that a} brief, easy screening – together with the ten questions above — may very well be all it takes to foretell these behaviors, McKee notes. 

The new examine suits with earlier analysis that has linked FOMO with damaging outcomes like anxiousness issues, sleep issues, and better alcohol use. 

Research additionally hyperlinks FOMO with social media use. 

“There is enough literature out there today that shows strong evidence of a bi-directional relationship between FOMO and social media use,” McKee says. In different phrases, “FOMO may lead to more social media use, but more social media use may also lead to FOMO.”

More analysis is required to higher perceive the hyperlink between FOMO and conduct, the researchers say. That may assist us scale back its potential harms.