Content area
Fear of missing out (FoMO) creates a strong urge to stay continuously connected and informed about peers’ activities, identified as a risk factor for problematic social media use and risky behaviors. Sexting is generally defined as the exchange of sexually suggestive or explicit photos, videos, or text messages through cell phones or other technologies. Despite its social relevance, the link between FoMO and sexting remains underexplored. This study examines their relationship in young adults—an understudied group compared to adolescents—while controlling for age, sex, and sexual orientation. The study surveyed 911 Italian young adults (18–30 years, Mage = 22.3, SDage = 2.57, 74% women, 70.4% heterosexual) through an online questionnaire. The results indicate that FoMO predicts only risky sexting behaviors (sexting under substance use and sexting for emotion regulation) while not influencing experimental sexting (sending one’s own sexts). Additionally, the link between FoMO and sexting for emotion regulation is stronger among LGB individuals. Therefore, FoMO has proven to be strongly related to the two kinds of risky sexting but not to experimental sexting. Understanding this relationship can inform prevention and intervention programs on relationships, online communication, and sexting in young adults.
Details
Sexual orientation;
Behavior;
Smartphones;
Emotional regulation;
Communication;
Heterosexuality;
Social networks;
Body image;
Young adults;
Sexual behavior;
Fear & phobias;
Cyberbullying;
Social interaction;
Emotions;
Minority & ethnic groups;
Social media;
Substance abuse;
Self image;
Age groups;
Risk factors;
LGBTQ people;
Text messaging;
Teenagers;
Risk taking;
Sexuality;
Adolescents;
Computer mediated communication;
Prevention programs;
Women;
Mass media;
Mobile phones;
Adults;
Social factors
; Ragona Alessandra 2
; Chirumbolo, Antonio 3
; Nappa, Maria Rosaria 4
; Babore Alessandra 5
; Trumello Carmen 5
; Sciabica, Gaetano Maria 1
; Cattelino, Elena 6
1 Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (M.M.); [email protected] (G.M.S.)
2 Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; [email protected]
3 Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; [email protected]
4 Department of Systems Medicine, Tor Vergata University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy; [email protected]
5 Department of Psychology, University ‘G. d’Annunzio’ of Chieti-Pescara, 66013 Chieti, Italy; [email protected] (A.B.); [email protected] (C.T.)
6 Department of Human and Social Science, University of Valle d’Aosta, 11100 Aosta, Italy