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Fear of Missing Out and Procrastination as Mediators Between Sensation Seeking and Adolescent Smartphone Addiction

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Abstract

Recent research has identified some risk factors for smartphone addiction. However, scarce research has examined the potential influence of sensation seeking on smartphone addiction, and little is known regarding the mediating mechanisms underlying this relationship. The present study examined the predictive role of sensation seeking on adolescent smartphone addiction and investigated whether fear of missing out (FoMO) and procrastination sequentially mediated the relation between sensation seeking and adolescent smartphone addiction. A sample of 794 adolescents completed questionnaires regarding demographics, sensation seeking, FoMO, procrastination, and smartphone addiction. After controlling for demographic covariates, the results indicated that (a) sensation seeking was positively associated with smartphone addiction; (b) both FoMO and procrastination partially mediated the relation between sensation seeking and adolescent smartphone addiction; and (c) FoMO and procrastination sequentially mediated the relation between sensation seeking and adolescent smartphone addiction. This study highlights the underlying mechanisms between sensation seeking and adolescent smartphone addiction, which has important implications for the preventions and interventions of adolescent problematic smartphone use in this digital era.

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Funding

Zhejiang Provincial Foundation of Philosophy and Social Sciences(17NDJC162YB).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The Center of Internet + Social Psychology, Renmin University of China, No. 59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100872, China

    Jiayi Wang, Pengcheng Wang, Xiaofan Yang & Li Lei

  2. Department of Psychology, School of Psychiatry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

    Guohua Zhang

  3. School of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China

    XingChao Wang

  4. Department of Psychology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China

    Fengqing Zhao

  5. Beijing Municipal Administration of Education and Correction, No. 1, Tuangui Street, Daxing District, Beijing, 102628, China

    Meng Zhao

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  1. Jiayi Wang
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  4. Guohua Zhang
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Correspondence to Pengcheng Wang or Li Lei.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Jiayi Wang and Pengcheng Wang contribute equally to the study. They should be regarded as joint first authors.

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Wang, J., Wang, P., Yang, X. et al. Fear of Missing Out and Procrastination as Mediators Between Sensation Seeking and Adolescent Smartphone Addiction. Int J Ment Health Addiction 17, 1049–1062 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00106-0

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