Negative Emotions And Problematic Social Network Sites Usage:the Mediating Role Of Fear Of Missing Out And The Moderating Role Of Gender

Social network sites have become prevalent interpersonal interaction platforms,thanks to the developing of Internet and smart mobile terminal.In China,WeChat Moments and QZone are people's favorite social network sites,which draw a majority of Internet users' attention(By the end of 2017,users of these two SNSs are respectively 87.3%and 66.4%of all the Internet users in China).It is fair to say social network sites shape a brand new life style,especially in the aspect of interpersonal communication and interaction.However,social network sites are not always beneficial to people.Sometimes they bring trouble to people,such as problematic social network sites use.Young people who are free to use Internet are the most active users in social network sites.Unfortunately,they are susceptible to problematic social network sites use.As emerging adults,young people would have trouble to shoulder burden of life as well as face identity confusion.For this reason,many young people feel stressed,anxious and depressed.It is common for young people to use social network sites to escape from negative emotions.But sometimes they get too involved.To explore the relationship between negative emotions and problematic social network sites use in young people,the current study constructed a moderated mediating model in which the relationship was mediated by fear of missing out and moderated by gender.A sample of 1220 Chinese college students from two universities was recruited to complete the Depression,Anxiety and Stress Scale-21,Fear of Missing Out Scale,and Problematic Social Network Sites Use Scale.The results showed(1)negative emotions had positive relationships with problematic social network sites use;and(2)the relationship were mediated by fear of missing out;moreover,(3)gender moderate the mediation effect.Those results reveal that negative emotions are the distal causes of problematic social network sites use and fear of missing out is a proximal one,and male college students are more likely affected by fear of missing out,which sheds light on the issue of problematic social network sites usage and has important theoretical and practical implications.