Journal of Guangxi Teachers Education University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition) ›› 2025, Vol. 61 ›› Issue (3): 84-95.doi: 10.16088/j.issn.1001-6597.2025.03.008

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Relationship between College Students’ Loneliness and Sleep Procrastination: The Chain Mediating Role of Fear of Missing Out and Social Media Dependency

GUO Song1,2, CHEN Yi-wen1,2   

  1. 1. Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
    2. Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2024-10-29 Published:2025-05-07

Abstract: A questionnaire survey is conducted with 584 college students from three cities as the subjects: Beijing, Xiamen, and Wuhan, by adopting the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the FOMO Scale, the Social Media Dependence Scale, and the Sleep Procrastination Scale, with an aim to explore the relationship between loneliness and sleep procrastination among college students, and to test the chain mediating roles of fear of missing out (FOMO) and social media dependence in this relationship. The results indicate that loneliness significantly positively predicts sleep procrastination, with FOMO and social media dependence serving as the chain mediators. Specifically, loneliness indirectly promotes sleep procrastination behavior by triggering FOMO and increasing social media dependence. FOMO and social media dependence are potential mechanisms through which loneliness affects sleep procrastination, a conclusion that provides theoretical insights for addressing sleep procrastination issues among college students.

Key words: college students’ loneliness, fear of missing out, social media dependence, sleep procrastination

CLC Number:  B842;G444
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