The study found that emotional difficulties alone do not directly drive fear of missing out (FoMO). Instead, anxiety, low mood and behavioural problems play a key role in linking emotional struggles with both FoMO and social media addiction. Researchers say the findings highlight the need to look beyond screen time and mobile phone use and that more focus is needed on the emotional wellbeing of young people.
Key findings from the study include:
- Adolescents who struggled to recognise and describe their emotions reported higher levels of problematic social media use.
- Emotional difficulties were not directly associated with FoMO.
- Anxiety, low mood and behavioural problems appeared to account for the association between emotional difficulties and FoMO.
- Behavioural symptoms such as impulsivity partly accounted for the association between emotional difficulties and problematic social media use.
The findings suggest that emotional processing difficulties increase vulnerability to problematic use indirectly, through broader psychiatric symptoms.
As social media use continues to rise among teenagers, concerns about its impact on mental health are growing.[1] This study examined how emotional awareness, fear of missing out and psychiatric symptoms interact in adolescents already receiving mental health support. The research involved 197 young people aged 14 to 18 who were attending child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinics in Türkiye. Each participant completed a series of validated psychological assessments measuring:
- Emotional awareness (alexithymia)
- Fear of missing out
- Problematic social media use
- Emotional and behavioural symptoms
Lead author Dr Serdengeçti, Haydarpaşa Research and Training Hospital, İstanbul, said: “When teenagers find it hard to understand their own emotions, social media can become a coping tool. However, our findings show that it is often the underlying anxiety, distress or behavioural problems that drive problematic use. This means that simply limiting screen time may not be enough. We need to address the emotional and psychological difficulties behind the behaviour.”
Professor Andrea Fiorillo, President of the European Psychiatric Association, said: “Young people are growing up in a digital environment that previous generations did not experience. Research such as this helps us understand that problematic social media use is rarely just about technology itself. Emotional development, vulnerability to anxiety and other psychiatric symptoms all shape how adolescents engage online. If we want effective prevention strategies, we must address these underlying factors.”
Adolescence is a critical period for emotional development.[2] For young people who struggle to process emotions, social media may offer distraction, validation or connection.[3] When these difficulties coexist with anxiety, depression or behavioural problems, the risk of problematic use appears to increase.[4] The researchers conclude that prevention and treatment strategies should focus on improving emotional awareness, identifying and treating co-occurring psychiatric symptoms and supporting healthier coping strategies.
The European Congress of Psychiatry takes place from 28 – 31 March 2026 in Prague, Czech Republic and is Europe’s largest congress dedicated to psychiatry, with over 4,200 attendees from over 105 countries worldwide: epa-congress.org.
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Notes to Editors
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The Relationships Among FoMO, Problematic Social Media Use, Alexithymia, and Psychiatric Symptoms in Adolescents [O015]
N. Serdengeçti*1, A. B. Can Aydın2, M. Yavuz 3
1 Haydarpaşa Research and Training Hospital, 2Seyrantepe Hamidiye Research and Training Hospital,, 3Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, İstanbul, Türkiye
Introduction: As social media use continues to increase, particularly among adolescents, understanding its impact on mental health is becoming increasingly urgent.
Objectives: This study explored the relationships between alexithymia, FoMO, excessive social media use, and psychiatric symptoms in a clinical adolescent sample, hypothesizing that alexithymia would be linked to higher FoMO and social media addiction, with internalising and externalising problems as potential mediators. It also examined whether these variables differed based on daily use of popular social media platforms.
Methods: A total of 197 participants aged 14 to 18 years were recruited from child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinics in two public hospitals. Participants were interviewed by a child and adolescent psychiatrist and then asked to complete the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Alexithymia Questionnaire, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale and the Fear of Missing Out Scale.
Results: Mediation analyses revealed that while alexithymia significantly predicted social media addiction, it did not directly predict FoMO. Instead, the relationship between alexithymia and FoMO was fully mediated by internalizing and externalizing problems. In addition, externalising symptoms partially mediated the relationship between alexithymia and social media addiction.
Conclusions: These findings highlight the complex emotional and behavioural contexts underlying problematic social media use among adolescents and underscore the need for interventions that address emotional processing difficulties and comorbid psychopathology in this population.
Disclosure of Interest: None Declared
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With active individual members in as many as 100+ countries and 47 National Psychiatric Association Members who represent more than 80,000 European psychiatrists, the European Psychiatric Association is the main association representing psychiatry in Europe. The EPA’s activities address the interests of psychiatrists in academia, research and practice throughout all stages of career development. The EPA deals with psychiatry and its related disciplines and focuses on the improvement of care for the mentally ill as well as on the development of professional excellence. More information: https://www.europsy.net/
References
[1] World Health Organization (2024) Teens, screens and mental health, World Health Organization. World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/25-09-2024-teens–screens-and-mental-health. Accessed February 2026.
[2] Silvers, J.A. (2021) ‘Adolescence as a pivotal period for emotion regulation development For consideration at Current Opinion in Psychology’, Current Opinion in Psychology, 44(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.09.023.
[3] Piccerillo, L. and Digennaro, S. (2024) ‘Adolescent social media use and emotional intelligence: A systematic review’, Adolescent Research Review, 10. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-024-00245-z.
[4] Shied, K. (2024) ‘Issue 12 • 1000703 J Child Adolesc Behav, an open access journal’, 12. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4172/2375-4494.1000703.