Adaptation and validation of the Online-Fear of Missing Out Inventory into Turkish and the association with social media addiction, smartphone addiction, and life satisfaction

Abstract

Background: In online environments, fear of missing out (FoMO) is where individuals become constantly preoccupied with what others are doing online and feel unable to log off in case they miss something. FoMO is a concept associated with the use of online social media (OSM; e.g., Facebook use, Instagram use) and various scales have been developed to assess the concept. One such scale is the Online Fear of Missing Out (On-FoMO) Inventory. The present study translated the On-FoMO Inventory into Turkish and its main aim was to test the validity and reliability of the scale. The secondary aim was to investigate the relationships between FoMO, social media addiction, smartphone addiction, and life satisfaction. Methods: A total of 419 participants (289 females and 130 males, mean age = 25.43 years, SD = 6.37) completed a self-report questionnaire including the On-FoMO Inventory, Fear of Missing Out Scale, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. In the adaptation process of the On-FoMO Inventory, confirmatory factor analysis, concurrent validity, and reliability analyses were performed. Results: The four-factor structure of the On-FoMO Inventory was confirmed and the Turkish version of the scale demonstrated good reliability. Online FoMO was positively related to social media addiction and smartphone addiction, and negatively related to life satisfaction. Conclusion: The results showed that the Turkish version of the On-FoMO Inventory has strong psychometric properties.