International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-023-01094-y

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The Role of Self‑Esteem, Depressive Symptoms, Extraversion,

Neuroticism and FOMO in Problematic Social Media Use:
Exploring User Profiles

Jennifer Packer1 · Mal Flack1

Accepted: 2 June 2023

© The Author(s) 2023

Abstract
Problematic social media use (PSMU) is known to be associated with self-esteem, depres-
sivesymptomology, extraversion, neuroticism and the fear of missing out (FOMO).How-
ever, few studies have sought to understand how these psychological factorsmay converge
and differentially relate to PSMU severity. Thus, the current studyexamined how these fac-
tors may present as different ‘user profiles’. A total of574 participants completed an online
survey, and hierarchical cluster analysisand K-means clustering techniques were used to
form profiles. A five-clustersolution was identified. The clusters differed in PSMU scores
and in order ofPSMU severity were identified as FOMO, Emotionally Vulnerable, Low-
risk, LowExtraversion and Protective profiles. These findings indicate a more nuancedun-
derstanding of PSMU severity may be gained by considering how specificpsychological
correlates converge as opposed to considering them as uniquepredictors of PSMU. Future
research may benefit from conceptualising PSMU froma combined risk lens that prioritises
the relationship between PSMU correlates.

Keywords Personality · Extraversion · Neuroticism · Self-esteem · Depression · FOMO ·

User · Profiles · Social networking use

It is estimated that over 4 billion people worldwide use social media (Pennington & Shaw,
2023). Of increasing concern is the occurrence of problematic social media use (PSMU)
(Coyne et al. 2020; Shensa et al., 2018). PSMU is characterised by a preoccupation with
social media use. This preoccupation includes experiencing withdrawal and difficulty in
reducing social media use, using social media to escape negative emotional states and
continued use despite negative life consequences (Paakkari et al., 2021). Research indi-
cates that a range of individual differences are associated with social media use, including
self-esteem, depressive symptoms, extraversion and neuroticism and the fear of missing
out (FOMO) (Bányai et al., 2017; Franchina et al., 2018; Kircaburun et al., 2020; Raud-
sepp & Kais, 2019). However, there is a lack of research into how these correlates may

* Mal Flack
[email protected]
1
Faculty of Health, Charles Darwin University, Blue 1.1.29, Ellengowan Drive, Darwin, NT 0909,
Australia

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interrelate and contribute to PSMU (Marino et al., 2020; Weaver & Swank, 2021). This
study intends to improve understanding of PSMU by examining how self-esteem, depres-
sive symptoms, extraversion, neuroticism and FOMO converge and differentially relate to
PSMU using cluster analysis.
Cluster, profile and subgrouping analytic techniques provide an approach to
explore how individual differences may combine and contribute to the risk of prob-
lematic behaviours. Essentially, these approaches classify individuals into subgroups
based on shared similarity across a range of relevant variables (Milosevic & Ledg-
erwood, 2010; Yim & Ramdeen, 2015). In relation to addictive behaviours, profile
analytic techniques have provided insights into the individual and motivational risk
factors that precipitate and perpetuate behaviour (Castro-Calvo et al., 2020; Shensa
et al., 2017; Tiego et al., 2019). Although there are a range of individual differences-
associated PSMU, their combined influences are often not examined. In the following
section, we outline identified individual differences that have shown to correlate with
social media use and the processes that help explain how these factors may converge
to maintain PSMU.

Correlates of PSMU

Depression and self-esteem are associations with PSMU. Specifically, people with
depressive symptomology and low self-esteem have been found to be more likely to
engage in social media use to mitigate distress, emotionally regulate and avoid in-per-
son interactions (Andreassen et al., 2017; Shensa et al., 2017; Wartberg et al., 2020).
In addition, low self-esteem has been shown to be associated with higher social media
use, problematic social media use and difficulties with quitting or reducing social
media use (Blachnio et al., 2016). Longitudinal research has also indicated a temporal
relationship depression and increased the risk of PSMU severity (Raudsepp & Kais,
2019).
In relation to dispositional characteristics, meta-analytic research has shown neu-
roticism and extraversion share robust associations with online addictive behaviour
(Kayis et al., 2016). In terms of social media use specifically, higher extraversion has
been found to be positively associated with Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram use
disorder scores (Sindermann et al., 2020). Similarly, individuals with higher levels of
neuroticism have been found to be more likely to use social media problematically
(Kircaburun et al., 2020). One proposition is those with higher extraversion tend to
use social media to engage with others and seek social gratification, which may in turn
lead to addictive social media use (Atroszko et al., 2018), whereas elevated levels of
neuroticism are more likely to lead to use social media to escape daily life and regulate
negative affectivity (Kircaburun et al., 2020; Sindermann et al., 2020).
A growing body of research indicates that the fear of missing out (FOMO) plays a
dominant role in PSMU (Fioravanti et al., 2021). Przybylski et al. (2013, pp. 1841) defined
FOMO as the ‘pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences
from which one is absent’. Furthermore, it is proposed that FOMO may lead to a procliv-
ity to connect with others that in turn drives the excessive and harmful use of social media
(Boustead & Flack, 2021; Fuster et al., 2017; Tandon et al., 2021). Support for the centrality
of FOMO as an explanatory factor is reflected in recent meta-analytic research that indicates
FOMO has a consistent association with both social media use and PSMU (Fioravanti et al.,

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2021). In addition, FOMO has been found to directly and independently associated with
PSMU (Fioravanti et al., 2021; Franchina et al., 2018). FOMO is also positively associated
with a range of consequences, including negative physical symptoms, depressive symptoms
and decreased mindful attention (Baker et al., 2016; Franchina et al., 2018).

Profile Analysis

It is likely relationships described do not exist in singularity. In fact, there is emerging

research to indicate these individual differences may converge to contribute to an increased
risk of PSMU. For example, it has been suggested that depressive symptoms and low self-
esteem may increase the use of social media due to the need for emotional regulation and
social avoidance (Shensa et al., 2017; Wartberg et al., 2020). In addition, people with ele-
vated levels of neuroticism have been found to be more vulnerable to low self-esteem and
depressive symptoms (Marino et al., 2016; Mu et al., 2019). It also appears that concomi-
tant elevations of FOMO may exacerbate this vulnerability (Buglass et al., 2017). Not only
is FOMO considered a primarily relevant variable in social media research, but FOMO has
also been shown to share a robust association with depression, extraversion and neuroti-
cism (Fioravanti et al., 2021). Therefore, it could be expected that the social media users
experiencing PSMU would display profiles associated with combinations of elevated nega-
tive affect, lower self-esteem and relatively high scores on neuroticism and FOMO.

Current Study

There is conceptual support for the notion that individual difference may converge in a
way that contribute to the maintenance of problematic social media use. However, research
to date has typically used a more restrictive set of PSMU correlates in determining user
profiles. Also, to the authors’ knowledge, FOMO has not been included in the other profile
analytic studies exploring individual difference. Thus, this study aims to identify ‘user pro-
files’ of social media use by examining how the PSMU correlates of self-esteem, depres-
sion, neuroticism, extraversion and FOMO may converge using an exploratory cluster anal-
ysis. Despite user profiles not being developed with the variables included in this study,
some tentative propositions can be made.

1. Several distinct profiles will be identified.

2. The identified profiles will differ on PSMU severity.
3. FoMO will likely be elevated in the profile with the highest PSMU scores and associated
with higher levels of neuroticism, depressive symptomology and low self-esteem.

Method

Participants and Procedure

A total of 574 adult active users of social media (61% female) completed an anonymous
online survey. The participants were recruited via paid advertisements posted on Facebook,
TikTok and Instagram advertising. Most of the participants were under 45 years of age;
21.8% (18–24), 29.8% (25–34), 15.5% (35–44), 27.6% (45–64) and 11.2% (65 years or

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older). Almost two thirds of the participants (64.9%) reported Facebook as their most used
social media, 21.8% Instagram, 5.1% TikTok, 1.6% Snapchat, 3.9% Twitter, 0.8% LinkedIn
and 1.9% other (e.g. Reddit). The average number of platforms used was 2.7. Approxi-
mately one fifth (20.1%) of the sample used social media hourly, 59.6% several times a day,
17.7% at least daily and 1.9% at least weekly. The majority of participants are reported liv-
ing in Australia (48%), followed by the USA (20.1%), New Zealand (9.0%), the UK (8.8%)
and other (14.1%).

Ethics

Prior to conducting the current study, ethics approval was obtained from the researchers’
Human Research Ethics Committee (H21019; 8 April 2021). Participants were recruited
using social media advertising with no identifying information recorded from partici-
pants. Participants could opt-in to enter a draw for one of 10 USD $25.00 e-gift cards
upon completion of the survey. Respondents were required to be at least 18 years of age
and use social media to participate and complete the survey in English. No other exclu-
sion criteria were applied.

Measures

Problematic Social Media Use The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS;
Andreassen et al., 2017) is a 6-item self-report measure of problematic social media use.
BSMAS has an optimal cut-off point of 24, indicating experiences of withdrawal and mood
modification associated with social media use (Luo et al., 2021). The BSMAS has a 5-point
response options ranging from ‘very rarely’ to ‘very often’. The scale requires individuals
to respond to statements such as ‘How often during the last year have you tried to cut down
on the use of social media without success?’. Recent research has evidenced adequate lev-
els of internal consistency (α = 0.83) for the BSMAS (Schivinski et al., 2020). Using a
PSMU cut-off score of 24 (Luo et al., 2021), 11.3% of the sample were likely experienc-
ing significant withdrawal, distress and negative life consequences associated with social
media use.

Neuroticism and Extraversion The Big Five Inventory (BFI; John and Srivastava, 1999)
is a 44-item measure of dimensions of personality. Neuroticism and extraversion facets of
the BFI each have 8 items, respectively, rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Items such as ‘I
see myself as someone who is talkative’ (extraversion) and ‘I see myself as someone who
worries a lot’ (neuroticism) require individuals to rate from ‘disagree strongly’ to ‘agree
strongly’. Research has identified adequate internal consistency α = .82 for extraversion
facet and α = .83 for neuroticism facet of the BFI (Alansari, 2016).

Self‑Esteem The Rosenberg Self-esteem scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965) is a 10-item self-
report measure of both positive and negative feelings about self. Self-esteem is measured
using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’. Example
items include ‘I take a positive attitude towards myself”. Psychometric research has identi-
fied the RSES to have good internal consistency (α = .90), item convergence and discrimi-
nant validity (Sinclair et al., 2010).

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FOMO The Fear of Missing Out scale (FoMOs; Przybylski et al., 2013) is a 10-item self-
report measure of FOMO, anxiety related to the feeling of being absent from pleasurable
experiences that others are having. The FOMOs utilise a 5-point scale ranging from ‘not
at all true of me’ to ‘extremely true of me’ on items such as ‘I fear others are having more
rewarding experiences than me’. Development of the scale showed support for a single-
factor solution with good internal consistency (α = 0.90).

Psychological Distress The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales–21 (DASS-21; Lovibond

and Lovibond, 1995) is a 21-item measure that involves participants rating statement
responses on a 4-point Likert scale. This ranges from 0 = ‘did not apply to me at all’ to 3
= ‘applied to me most of the time’. This study utilises depression subscale of 7 items and a
reliable internal consistency rating of α = 0.91 (Sinclair et al., 2012).

Data Analysis Plan

Data were screened for multivariate outliers and multicollinearity, as these can influence the
development of distinct clusters (Hair et al., 2014; Kaushik & Mathur, 2014). Mahalanobis
and Cook’s distance statistics were below critical cut-offs, indicating no influential multi-
variate outliers. In addition, the tolerance statistic fell within acceptable range, indicating
no concerns with multicollinearity. The variables utilised in the current study (extraver-
sion, neuroticism, depression, self-esteem and FOMO) were standardised to z-scores prior
to the progression of the cluster analysis. There were no missing data due to the forced
response option employed. All predictor variables were included in the cluster analysis.
The independence of observations was maintained by participants only being assigned to
one cluster.
Social media user profiles were identified using both hierarchical and non-hierarchical
clustering techniques with IBM SPSS statistics version 28. Hierarchical cluster analysis
(HCA) was used to identify an optimal number of clusters for an initial ‘seed point’. The
identification of clusters was based on the interpretation of the agglomeration schedule,
scree plot and dendrogram (Yim & Ramdeen, 2015). The HCA used a squared Euclid-
ean distance as the distance measure and Ward’s method as the linkage measure. Ward’s
method has previously been identified to perform the best overall in comparison to alter-
native HCA linkage measures (Ferreira & Hitchcock, 2009). Squared Euclidean distance
was selected as it is the most used distance measure in HCA research and is recommended
to be used in conjunction with Ward’s method (Hair et al., 2014; Majerova & Nevima,
2017).
The results of the HCA were subsequently utilised in a K-means clustering analysis.
K-means clustering is a non-hierarchical procedure that organises cases according to the
centroid of each cluster. It groups data points based on distance from each centroid (Hair
et al., 2014). This method requires a predetermined number of clusters before the analysis;
therefore, it is the best practice to complete hierarchical methods first. That is, the HCA
and K-means clustering analysis are complementary techniques. The HCA’s ability to split
clusters supports the K-means need to have a specified and non-random cluster number
(Hair et al., 2014). Kaushik and Mathur (2014) highlight that the strengths of a K-means
analysis include its ease of understanding and the stability of clusters.
Differences across the clusters on PSMU severity were examined using one-way ANO-
VAs. Although the data violated the assumptions of normality, one-way ANOVAs are con-
sidered robust to violations of normality (Blanca et al., 2017; Schmider et al., 2010). As the

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homogeneity of variance was not violated, Tukey’s HSD post hoc testing was used and inter-
preted (Hair et al., 2014). As an extra measure to reaffirm the ANOVA results, a non-para-
metric Kruskal-Wallis analysis was conducted. Furthermore, additional post hoc tests were
performed using the Games-Howell and Sidak analyses to confirm the stability of the find-
ings. As the pattern of results did not differ between the test type used, only the ANOVA and
Tukey’s HSD results are shown.

Results

The HCA allowed for the inspection of the agglomeration schedule, scree plot and dendro-
gram. The agglomeration schedule was examined for significant increases in coefficients,
the dendrogram was inspected for similarity between clusters, and the scree plot was used
to identify a ‘break point’ to determine optimal number of clusters for further analysis
(Yim & Ramdeen, 2015). A 5-cluster solution is presented as the most optimal option. The
5-cluster solution was entered into a non-hierarchical K-means cluster analysis to deter-
mine profile presentation based on the entered predictor variables.

Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and K‑Means Clustering

Figure 1 represents the user profiles identified with the cluster analyses. The profiles were
characterised based on variations in presentation across extraversion, neuroticism, self-
esteem, depression and FOMO. Profile 1 is characterised by high level of FOMO, elevated
depression and extraversion and low self-esteem. This was termed the ‘FOMO Profile’.
Profile 2 does not have significantly elevated scores on any of the variables, which can be
thought of as a ‘Low-risk Profile’. Profile 3 is primarily defined by low self-esteem, high
depression and high neuroticism, with some elevation in FOMO. Due to this combination,
profile 3 can be termed our ‘Emotionally Vulnerable Profile’. Profile 4 has the lowest score
on extraversion and low scores across all variables except neuroticism. Thus, this profile

Extraversion Neuroticism Self-Esteem Depression FOMO

1.5

0.5

-0.5

-1

-1.5
FOMO Profile Low-risk Profile Emotionally Low Extraversion Protective Profile
Vulnerable Profile Profile

Fig. 1  User profiles (cluster formation). Note. The vertical axis represents z-scores of extraversion, neuroti-
cism, self-esteem, depression and FOMO

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can be defined as our ‘Low Extraversion Profile’. Profile 5 has high self-esteem and ele-
vated extraversion, combined with low FOMO, low depression and low neuroticism. Pro-
file 5 can be termed a ‘Protective Profile’ cluster due to its low scores across correlates
that research has suggested increase PSMU risk, supporting the literature findings (Ahmed
et al., 2021; Fioravanti et al., 2021; Kircaburun et al., 2020).

Profile Differences

One-way between groups ANOVAs were used to test for PSMU score differences across
the identified profiles. Levene’s statistic indicated the assumption for homogeneity of
variance was not violated, F(4, 481.02) = 0.16, p = .958. The ANOVA was statistically
significant with a result of F (4, 569) = 60.90, p = .001, indicating the PSMU scores are
associated with the cluster membership. Eta-squared results indicate a large effect size
of η2 = 0.30 (Hair et al., 2014). With the exceptions of Low Extraversion (P4) and Pro-
tective Profiles (P5), post hoc analyses revealed the remaining cluster differed from each
other on PSMU scores (p < .05). Of the 10 pairwise comparisons, 30% of effect size were
large (d > 0.8), 40% medium (d > 0.5) and 30% small (d < 0.3). The results are presented
in Table 1.
To further validate the presentation of the profiles, the clusters were compared on
the predictor variables using one-way ANOVAs. The results indicated that the pro-
file means differ significantly on extraversion F(4, 469) = 132.70, p = < 0.001, η2 = 0.48;
neuroticism F(4, 469) = 166.80, p = < 0.001, η2 = 0.54; self-esteem F(4, 469) = 263.22,
p = < 0.001, η2 = 0.65; depression F(4, 469) = 281.38 p = < 0.001, η2 = 0.66; and FOMO
F(4, 469) = 207.93, p = < 0.001, η2 = 0.59. Taken together, these findings support the clus-
ter analysis groupings.

Discussion

This study examined how self-esteem, depression, neuroticism, extraversion and FOMO
may form distinct ‘user profiles’ of PSMU risk. Specifically, it was predicted that distin-
guishable profiles of social media users would emerge and that the profiles differ on lev-
els of PSMU. Additionally, it was predicted that elevated at-risk PSMU profiles have a
cumulative presentation of elevated FOMO, neuroticism, depressive symptomology and
low self-esteem. A total of five profiles were identified and were classified based on the
presentation of the identified predictor variables and further examined in relation to PSMU
severity (see Fig. 1; Table 1). The FOMO, Low-risk and Emotionally Vulnerable profiles
differed significantly in their PSMU severity, highlighting how combinations of individual
differences may contribute to PSMU. These results indicate that PSMU can be understood
through a combined psychological risk lens.

Profile Comparisons

The dominant feature of the ‘FOMO’ profile was the elevated FOMO scores, although
extraversion was also somewhat elevated. These results indicate that personality may play
a role in the severity of PSMU and profile formation. Previous research has identified a
positive relationship between Facebook addiction and extraversion, after controlling for
other personality characteristics (Atroszko et al., 2018). Sindermann et al. (2020) posit

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Table 1  User profile for PSMU scores (mean and standard deviation)
P1 (N = 84), P2 (N = 119), Low- P3 (N = 72), Emotionally P4 (N = 121), Low Extra- P5 (N = 178), Protec- Total
FOMO Profile risk Profile vulnerable Profile version Profile tive Profile sample (N
= 574)

PSMU scores
Mean 22.262–5* 15.241*3–5* 17.421–2*4–5* 13.361–3* 12.481–3* 15.29
Standard deviation 4.94 4.91 5.28 5.01 5.18 6.04
PSMU score above 24 (%) 52.4 3.4 16.7 1.7 1.7 11.3

Means with superscripts indicate statistically significant profile differences at *p < .05
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

that extraversion increases the need to be socially engaged and thus increases the risk of
PSMU. However, Kircaburun et al. (2020) found that whilst extraversion increases the
degree of social media use, it does not increase problematic use. It is plausible that the dif-
ferent results may be due to combined effects between extraversion and additional effects
of FOMO. For example, studies have yet to utilise FOMO in assessing the relationship
between personality and PSMU. This is despite evidence that indicates a positive correla-
tion between extraversion and FOMO (Fioravanti et al., 2021).
The Emotionally Vulnerable profile suggests that a combined presentation of elevated
depression and neuroticism contributes to severity of PSMU. Previous research has estab-
lished that higher negative affect and lower self-esteem are more common in those with
neuroticism (Abbasi & Drouin, 2019; Mu et al., 2019; Vittengl, 2017). In turn, high
depression, lower self-esteem and higher anxiety have been shown to influence the degree
of PSMU severity (Cunningham et al. 2021; Huang, 2022; Shannon et al., 2022; Zhang
et al. 2021). As reflected in the Emotionally Vulnerable profile, it is plausible that elevated
levels of neuroticism exacerbate negative affect and low self-esteem. For example, people
with higher neuroticism may be more likely to engage in excessive social media use and be
overly concerned with how they present themselves to others (Bowden-Green et al., 2021).
Compared to the Emotionally Vulnerable profile, the Protective Profile has high self-
esteem, low neuroticism, low depressive symptomology, low FOMO and lowest PSMU
severity. This indicates that PSMU may be understood from the viewpoint of maladaptive
coping. For example, those with depressive symptoms may use social media to regulate
emotionally and avoid in-person interaction (Shensa et al., 2018; Wartberg et al., 2020).
Similarly, people with low self-esteem are more likely to engage in online communica-
tion and use social media to mitigate distress (Ahmed et al., 2021). Low self-esteem is
predictive of higher social media use, issues with quitting or reducing social media use and
addictive use of social media (Andreassen et al., 2017; Blachnio et al., 2016). For the Pro-
tective Profile, the high self-esteem may serve as a protective mechanism against engaging
in social comparison, which has been identified to increase negative affectivity (Liu et al.,
2017). Therefore, those in the Protective Profile may be less reliant on use social media to
regulate emotions, resulting in a lower risk for PSMU.
The FOMO Profile and Emotionally Vulnerable Profile have the highest PSMU sever-
ity, as well as the highest levels of FOMO. This suggests that FOMO may play a central
role in the development and maintenance of PSMU. Possible reasons for the significance
of FOMO on PSMU include increased ability for social surveillance via social network-
ing sites, feelings of social inadequacy from consistent exposure to others’ lives and social
comparison (Buglass et al., 2017). In continuance of these findings, Casale et al. (2018)
found that those who experience higher levels of FOMO possessed erroneous beliefs that
social media use would regulate negative emotions associated with missing out. Thus, a
cyclical relationship begins to form between PSMU and FOMO. In the case of the FOMO
and Emotionally Vulnerable profiles, engagement in social media use likely further engen-
ders FOMO. This may encourage the continued use of social media use and increase the
awareness of others’ lives, subsequently increasing the need to engage in social media use
to cope with the negative feelings of missing out—culminating in a higher risk of PSMU.

Combination of Risk

The profiles identified provide support for the notion of combined risk. For instance, the
Low Extraversion Profile comprises somewhat elevated levels of neuroticism yet the equal

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lowest level of PSMU scores. This result indicates that the presence of one PSMU risk fac-
tor may not be sufficient to increase PSMU risk. Similarly, despite the Protective Profile
having a higher degree of extraversion, there was not an associated increase the risk of
PSMU. When extroverted people possess higher self-esteem, there is likely to be a posi-
tive association with PSMU severity (Smith, 2022). A potential explanation is that people
with heightened levels of self-esteem and extraversion are more likely to engage in positive
online interactions, partake in enjoyable activities and possess satisfaction with how they
are perceived by others (Smith, 2022).
As mentioned, FOMO appears to play a dominant role in PSMU. Elevated levels of
FOMO have been suggested to reflect state of limbo that arises when psychological needs
are not being met (Tandon et al., 2021), which is more likely to occur in those with pre-
existing vulnerability (Boustead & Flack, 2021). Additionally, FOMO is found to be asso-
ciated with low self-esteem and higher levels of depressive symptoms and neuroticism
(Cunningham et al. 2021; Huang, 2022; Shannon et al., 2022; Zhang et al. 2021). A con-
trasting pattern is observed in the Low-risk Profile, where slight elevations in extraversion
and neuroticism are apparent with low deviations across the other variables. The Low-risk
Profile has a more moderate level of PSMU severity compared to the FOMO and Emotion-
ally Vulnerable profiles.
A possible method of understanding the combined risk perspective is social comparison
theory. Social comparison theory postulates that people have an innate drive to compare
themselves to others to ascertain an idea of self (Tandon et al., 2021). Considering the pro-
liferation of social media use, people may engage in upward social comparison (thinking
others are better off), leading to negative affect, lower self-esteem, depression and FOMO.
Furthermore, research has identified that social comparison mediates the relationship
between personality traits, such as neuroticism, and passive use of social media, contribut-
ing to PSMU (Rozgonjuk et al., 2019).

Implications

This study successfully identified distinct profiles of PSMU. Of particular importance was
demonstrating the contributions of FOMO and emotional vulnerability to PSMU sever-
ity. People with multiple domains of psychological vulnerability are more likely to be at-
risk for PSMU and may need more intensive interventions. Practical implications relating
to interventions include treatment development that targets combined risk. Research has
supported the design of interventions that focus on mindfulness-based techniques to re-
orientating users to the present, decrease upward social comparison and reduce symptoms
of FOMO and associated psychological distress (Weaver & Swank, 2019, 2021).
This research also supports the conceptualisation of PSMU from a perspective of com-
bined risk. Previous literature has identified distinct profiles of problematic social media
users. For instance, Blachnio et al. (2016) and Bányai et al. (2017) identified that low self-
esteem primarily defined at-risk profiles for PSMU. Additionally, Fuster et al. (2017) found
that user profiles differed mainly by levels of FOMO, with the most at-risk subgroup hav-
ing the highest levels of FOMO. The novelty of the current research is that it builds upon
these findings, considering FOMO, personality, depressive symptomology and self-esteem
as interacting risk variables. Ultimately, what was identified is that the culmination of these
variables may lead to an emotional and psychological vulnerability that contributes to the
development and maintenance of PSMU severity. Taken together, it appears profile analy-
sis possesses utility in helping to understanding the maintaining factors PSMU.

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Limitations and Future Directions

Future research could incorporate ‘use motives’ to further understand the role of per-
sonality and emotional distress on profile presentation. Studies have found that per-
sonality often influences or interacts with motives that contribute to the severity of
addictive behaviours (Flack & Buckby, 2020; Kircaburun et al., 2020; Schivinski et al.,
2020). For example, extraversion is linked to using social media to maintain relation-
ships, whilst neuroticism is associated with using social media to pass the time (Kir-
caburun et al., 2020). The desire to pass time use has been identified in multiple studies
as a motive that is positively associated with PSMU severity (Kircaburun et al., 2020;
Schivinski et al., 2020; Süral et al., 2019). In addition, Schivinski et al. (2020) identified
that problematic social media users have elevations in negative affect and the increased
motivation to use social media for surveillance of others, network expansion and main-
taining relationships when compared to those not at-risk for PSMU. Thus, the personal-
ities-oriented profiles may be further explored in the context of salient PSMU motives.
Further exploration may build upon the foundation provided in this study and provide an
additional nuanced understanding of these profiles.
A potential limitation of the current research is the cross-sectional design does not
allow for understanding the direction and progression of the profiles over time. Previ-
ous longitudinal findings indicate that increased levels of PSMU and FOMO are likely
to be maintained over time (Lo Coco et al., 2020). While this stability is attributed to
the interplay between FOMO and PSMU maintaining psychological distress, the tem-
poral interactions between these factors are largely unknown. Thus, future longitudinal
research is required to examine the stability of individual characteristics identified in the
current study to assess how they interact or change over time. This would also improve
the evidence base for interventions by increasing the understanding of the risk profiles
identified and the processes involved.

Conclusion

In this study, it was found that there were distinct subtypes of social media users. The
profiles differed significantly on the severity of PSMU, with at-risk profiles having a
cumulative presentation of high neuroticism, elevated FoMO, high depressive sympto-
mology and low self-esteem. The findings underscore the importance of understanding
maladaptive social media behaviour through a lens of combined risk. For example, con-
sider the relationship between personality and self-esteem and the exacerbating impacts
of FOMO on self-esteem and depressive symptomology. Thus, the strength of this
research is its ability to emphasise the importance of how personality and individual dif-
ferences may interact and lead to cyclical relationships that exist outside of simple cau-
sality. This has implications for treatment design and matching and how we approach
PSMU conceptualisation moving forward. Future research could focus on investigating
PSMU from a perspective of combined risk.

Author Contribution Jennifer Packer: conceptualisation, methodology, formal analysis, writing—original

draft preparation. Mal Flack: conceptualisation, methodology, writing—review and editing, supervision.

Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions

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 International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

Data Availability The data that support the findings of the present study are available from the correspond-
ing author upon reasonable request.

Declarations
Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate All procedures performed in this study involvinghuman partici-
pants were in accordance with the ethical standards of theresearch team’s organisational Ethics Board and
with the 1975 HelsinkiDeclaration, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from allparticipants.

Conflict of Interest The authors declare no competing interests.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Com-
mons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article
are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly
from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://​creat​iveco​mmons.​org/​licen​ses/​by/4.​0/.

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