Effects of attention to negative information on the bidirectional relationship between fear of missing out (FoMO), depression and smartphone addiction among secondary school students: Evidence from a two-wave moderation network analysis

Abundant literature has shown that depression, Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), and smartphone addiction may have bidirectional relationships, and attention to negative information (ANI) may moderate these bidirectional relationships. However, previous literature mainly analyzed them using total scores, and longitudinal evidence is limited, motivating us to address this gap using moderated network analysis. 2469 secondary school students (female = 1212 (49.09%), age mean ± SD = 13.90 ± 1.56, age range from 11 to 18) were recruited to complete questionnaires, including the ANI scale, the Mobile Phone Addiction Index scale, the FoMO scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire before and after four-months online learning. The moderated network approach was used to test the bidirectional relationship among depression, FoMO, and smartphone addiction and the moderating role of ANI. The analysis found that the strongest bidirectional relationships were between suicide and withdrawal or escape and between withdrawal or escape and fear of missing situations in waves 1 and 2, respectively. The number of interaction terms among depression, FoMO, and smartphone addiction moderated by ANI was: 4 and 3 in waves 1 and 2, respectively. In addition, the strongest interaction terms were between withdrawal or escape and fear of missing situations and between feeling anxious and lost and concentration in waves 1 and 2, respectively. We identified several significant bidirectional relationships between the symptoms of depression, FoMO, and smartphone addiction and interaction terms moderated by ANI. These findings provide valuable theoretical and practical insights for breaking the cycle between symptoms of depression, FoMO, and smartphone addiction through intervention with ANI.