JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Social media is widely used in medical education; however, its negative consequences and the relationship with nursing students' personality traits have been limitedly explored.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the connection between personality traits, Fear of Missing Out (FOM), and Social Media Addiction (SMA) in university students. Specifically, the study aimed to determine the main predictors of Social Media Addiction.

Methods:

This is a cross-sectional study. Data were collected from nursing students using the shortened version of the Big Five Inventory, fear of missing out scale, and social media addiction scale.

Results:

The study achieved a response rate of 66.7%, with a total of 411 participants. The majority of participants (60.1%) had low FOM scores, while SMA scores showed a different pattern, with a larger proportion (63.5%) of participants scoring in the moderate range. In terms of gender differences, males exhibited higher levels of FOM (t = 3.86, p < 0.001) and SMA (t = 2.51, p = 0.013) compared to females. Additionally, males scored higher in Neuroticism (t = 3.30, p = 0.001) and Openness (t = 1.98, p = 0.048). Regression analysis revealed that both Conscientiousness (β = 0.357, p < 0.01) and FOM (β = 0.213, p < 0.01) positively predicted SMA, while Neuroticism (β = -0.223, p < 0.01) and being female (β = -0.098, p < 0.05) were associated with lower levels of addiction. The resulting model accounted for 35.8% of the variance.

Conclusions:

The study provides evidence that Conscientiousness and FOM are positive predictors of SMA, while Neuroticism is negatively correlated with it. Moreover, males exhibit higher levels of both FOM and Social Media Addiction in comparison to females. These findings emphasize the impact of personality traits and FOM on social media addiction among university students. Clinical Trial: N/A