The Effect Of The Passive Use Of Social Networking Sites On Depression: The Role Of Fear Of Missing Out And Attention Bias In Emotional Information

Social networking sites have become an important tool and platform for interpersonal communication in the Internet age.The popularity of social networking sites has attracted the attention of many researchers.With the deepening of research,researchers consciously classify and integrate the use behavior of social networking sites,and divide the use of social networking sites into two main ways: active use and passive use.Previous studies have mainly focused on active use behaviors such as self–presentation and self–disclosure on social networking sites,and the impact of these behaviors on psychosocial adaptation variables.In recent years,some studies have also discussed passive information browsing behavior on social networking sites（passive use of social networking sites）and its effects on psychosocial adaptation variables such as life satisfaction and depression.However,few studies have explored the effects of passive social networking sites use on depression from both emotional and cognitive factors.Focusing on the relationship between passive use of social networking sites behavior and individual depression,and exploring the relationship between passive use of social networking sites and depression from two aspects of emotional and cognitive factors,it is a study of past passive use of social networking sites and individual psychosocial adaptation variables.Expanded and enriched the research horizon between social networking site use and depression.Passive use of social networking sites behavior will expose individuals to a large amount of information,increase the probability of individuals missing certain meaningful events or experiences,and enhance individuals’ sense of missing anxiety,which may have a significant negative impact on individuals.At the same time,according to the emotional consistency hypothesis,when the individual is in a negative mood,there will be a bias towards negative information,and the accumulated negative emotions will preempt more attention resources of the individual,so that the individual will pay less attention to the positive emotions,which may eventually lead to depression.Therefore,based on the theoretical model of social networking and mental health level,the cognitive theory of emotion,and the cognitive theory of depression,this study investigates the mediating role of fear of missing out in the use of passive social networking sites and depression,and the series mediation effect of fear of missing out and attention bias to negative emotional information between passive social networking sites use and depression.This study uses questionnaire method and experimental method to explore the relationship between passive use of social networking sites and depression in college students,as well as the fear of missing out and negative emotional information attentional bias in it.Study 1 conducted a survey on 762 college students by questionnaire method,and used the passive use of social networking sites scale,the fear of missing out scale and the center for epidemiological studies depression scale to measure the passive use of social networking sites behavior,fear of missing out and relationship between depression.Study 2 used questionnaire method and experimental method to conduct a survey on 240 college students,in which the passive use of social networking sites scale,fear of missing out scale,and the center for epidemiological studies depression scale were used to measure the passive use of social networking sites behavior of college students.Level,fear of missing out level and depression were measured;using the point detection paradigm to measure the attentional bias of negative emotional information of college students.Explore the role of fear of missing out and attention bias negative emotional information in passive use of social networking sites and depression.The findings are as follows:（1）Passive use of social networking sites was significantly positively correlated with fear of missing out,attention bias to negative emotional information and depression;（2）passive use of social networking sites can not only significantly predict depression in a positive direction,but also affect depression through the mediating effect of fear of missing out;（3）fear of missing out and attention bias to negative emotional information play a series mediation role in the influence of passive use of social networking sites on depression.