Effect of fear of missing out on learning burnout in medical students: a moderated mediation

Xin Ye; Yang Li; Yang Liu; Qiuyue Zheng; Zhongli Lin; Yinhua Zeng; Ziyue Lin; Tan Zhu; Xiayan Chen; Liangliang Chen; Tao Liu

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1289906

Effect of fear of missing out on learning burnout in medical students: a moderated mediation

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Nov 17:14:1289906. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1289906. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xin Ye¹, Yang Li^{2

3}, Yang Liu⁴, Qiuyue Zheng¹, Zhongli Lin¹, Yinhua Zeng⁵, Ziyue Lin⁵, Tan Zhu¹, Xiayan Chen¹, Liangliang Chen⁶, Tao Liu^{1

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ School of Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
² Mental Health Education Center, Huizhou Health Sciences Polytechnic, Huizhou, China.
³ Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁴ School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China.
⁵ Guidance Center for Mental Health of Students, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
⁶ Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Fujian Children's Hospital (Fujian Branch of Shanghai Children's Medical Center), Fuzhou, China.
⁷ School of Management, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
⁸ School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Learning burnout has a significant negative impact on students' academic performance and professional development, which has been exacerbated by the growing trend of problematic smartphone use, such as smartphone addiction, among young people. Recently, the literature on excessive social media use has revealed a critical role of fear of missing out. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine how fear of missing out affects smartphone addiction and its subsequent effect on learning burnout in college students.

Methods: In Study 1, 352 medical students were recruited to complete a cross-sectional survey. In Study 2, 2,948 college students were recruited to complete a cross-sectional survey. Further in Study 3, 30 medical students were recruited into a mindfulness-based intervention program.

Results: Study 1 preliminarily confirmed that fear of missing out was positively correlated with learning burnout. Study 2 then revealed a moderated mediation model showing that fear of missing out may increase smartphone addiction, which in turn affects their sleep quality and finally leads to learning burnout. This chain mediation model was moderated by the participants' level of mindfulness. To confirm the promoting role of mindfulness, Study 3 further confirmed that mindfulness training indeed can improve smartphone addiction and reduce learning burnout in medical students.

Discussion: Theoretical and practical contributions were discussed, highlighting the effects of fear of missing out on smartphone addiction and a moderating role of mindfulness training.

Keywords: fear of missing out; learning burnout; mindfulness; mobile phone addiction; sleep quality.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was funded by the Fujian Medical University (2021-FMH-001), China Association of Higher Education (23XXK0407), the Guangdong Vocational Colleges Teaching Guidance Committee for Medical and Health Professions (2022LX090).