Sensation seeking and social network addiction among college students: a moderated mediation model

• Published in: Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) Vol. 43; no. 12; pp. 10979 - 10988
• Main Authors: Meng, Yayun, Li, Meng, He, Jinbo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Addictions; Behavioral Science and Psychology; College students; Psychology; Social networks; Social Sciences; Fear of missing out; College student; Parental behavioral control; Social network addiction; Sensation seeking
• ISSN: 1046-1310; 1936-4733
• DOI: 10.1007/s12144-023-05189-6

Previous research has shown that sensation seeking can positively predict social network addiction. However, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Therefore, the current study constructed a moderated mediation model to examine whether fear of missing out mediated the relationships between sensation seeking and social network addiction and whether parental behavioral control moderated the mediation model among college students. A total of 514 college students in Wuhan (24.50% males, 75.50% females), with a mean age of 21.44 years ( SD  = 0.94, range = 19–23), were surveyed using the Sensation Seeking Scale, Fear of Missing Out Scale, Social Network Addiction Tendency Scale, and Parental Behavioral Control Scale. The results showed that fear of missing out significantly mediated the relationship between sensation seeking and social network addiction. Moreover, parental behavioral control moderated the relationship between sensation seeking and fear of missing out, and this relationship was weaker for college students with low parental behavioral control than parental behavioral control. Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of social network addiction. In addition, family and individual factors should be simultaneously considered in the prevention and intervention of social network addiction among college students.