The Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty, Maladaptive Coping Strategies, and Fear of Missing out in Social Media Addiction: A Serial Mediation Model

Background: With the development and popularization of internet technology and smartphones, social media brings convenience to people and brings potential risks of social media addiction (SMA). Understanding the development mechanism of SMA is the prerequisite for designing effective intervention programs to prevent and reduce SMA. Hence, under the guidance of the updated Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution Model, this research aimed to explore how intolerance of uncertainty, maladaptive coping strategies, and fear of missing out affect SMA.

Methods: Data were collected using the convenient sampling method in a cross-sectional survey. A Chinese-speaking community sample of 311 participants (188 female; age from 18 to 54 years, Mean age = 28.67, SD = 7.72) was recruited through social media (e.g., WeChat, QQ, and email). Among them, 135 (43.4%) were single, 70 (22.5%) were in a relationship, 101 (52.5%) were married, 5 (1.6%) divorced. 53 (17.0%) of the participants did not go to university, while 258 (83.0%) of them had a bachelor's degree or above. Brief COPE, Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, 12-item Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, and Fear of Missing Out Scale were used in the present study.

Descriptive analysis was adopted to present the research sample's overall situation. The correlation analysis was used to explore the relationships between intolerance of uncertainty, maladaptive coping strategies, fear of missing out, and SMA. Model 6 in the PROCESS in SPSS was used to verify the mediator roles of maladaptive coping strategies, fear of missing out in the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and SMA.

Results: Intolerance of uncertainty (r = 0.57, p < 0.001), maladaptive coping strategies (r = 0.48, p < 0.001), and fear of missing out (r = 0.58, p < 0.001) were positively related to SMA. According to the mediation analysis results, when age and gender were controlled, the direct effect of intolerance of uncertainty on SMA was significant (effect = 0.17, 95% CI = [0.11, 0.22]). The total indirect effect was also significant (effect = 0.12, 95% CI = [0.07, 0.17]). The effect of intolerance of uncertainty on SMA was mediated by maladaptive coping strategies (effect = 0.03, 95% CI = [0.00, 0.07]) and fear of missing out (effect = 0.05, 95% CI = [0.02, 0.09]). Therefore, maladaptive coping strategies and fear of missing out played a serial mediating effect between intolerance of uncertainty and SMA, and the effect size was 52.17%.

Implications: The findings suggest that improving the tolerance of uncertainty, reducing fear of missing out, and helping individuals implement active adaptation strategies can be used to prevent and mitigate SMA. Future research should use longitudinal data surveys to explore the causal links. In practice, targeted intervention strategies should be taken in people with different levels of uncertainty intolerance, maladaptive coping strategies, and fear of missing out.