The association between fear of missing out and problematic smartphone use: A latent profile analysis of problematic social media use

Problematic social media use (PSMU) has emerged as a societal and behavioral concern, especially among young adults. However, individual differences in symptom manifestation remain understudied. The present study adopted a person-centered approach to identify distinct profiles of PSMU and to examine the predictive roles of fear of missing out (FoMO), problematic smartphone use (PSU), age, and sex among a sample of 625 Italian university students aged 18 to 40 years (M = 25.31 years, SD = 5.85) who completed a self-report online survey. Using latent profile analysis (LPA) on a sample of Italian university students who use Instagram, five profiles were identified. Salience, tolerance, mood modification, withdrawal, and conflict symptoms sharply differentiated the high-risk with withdrawal symptom group from the other groups, supporting a cross-sectional pattern consistent with (but not demonstrating) a dimensional progression model. FoMO predicted high-risk with withdrawal symptoms and high-risk without withdrawal symptom membership, suggesting its role as an early vulnerability factor, whereas PSU strongly predicted high-risk with withdrawal symptoms classification. Sex differences also emerged, with females being more likely to belong to higher risk with withdrawal symptoms profiles. Analysis also indicated that younger participants were more at risk of belonging to the high-risk PSMU group. The findings offer nuanced insight into how psychological factors shape social online behavior and suggest tailored intervention strategies for users’ risk levels. However, the findings should be interpreted within the context of the Instagram social platform and the study’s sample-specific characteristics.