The Relationship between Intolerance of Uncertainty and Problematic Social Media Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Serial Mediation Model

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant interruptions to life certainty, and there has been a lack of research on the influence of uncertainty. The present research aimed to explore how intolerance of uncertainty, maladaptive coping strategies, and fear of missing out affect social media use i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2022-11, Vol.19 (22), p.14924
Main Authors: Sun, Chaoran, Li, Yumei, Kwok, Sylvia Y C L, Mu, Wenlong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Addictive behaviors
Behavior
Cellular telephones
Cognition & reasoning
Coping
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
Digital media
Fear
Humans
Hypotheses
Internet
Intolerance
Medical research
Pandemics
Polygraphs
Smartphones
Social Media
Social networks
Social research
Uncertainty
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Summary:The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant interruptions to life certainty, and there has been a lack of research on the influence of uncertainty. The present research aimed to explore how intolerance of uncertainty, maladaptive coping strategies, and fear of missing out affect social media use in a Chinese community sample (N = 311) during the pandemic. Serial mediation analysis was applied, integrating the mediating role of maladaptive coping strategy and fear of missing out. Intolerance of uncertainty, maladaptive coping strategies, and fear of missing out was positively related to PSMU. Based on the mediation analysis, when age and gender were controlled, the direct effect of intolerance of uncertainty on PSMU was significant. The total indirect effect was also significant. The effect of intolerance of uncertainty on PSMU was mediated by maladaptive coping strategies and fear of missing out. Taken together, maladaptive coping strategies and fear of missing out played a serial mediating role between intolerance of uncertainty and PSMU. The findings imply that strategies to improve the tolerance of uncertainty, reduce fear of missing out, and relevant coping strategies could be potentially helpful in mitigating problematic social media use, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph192214924