A partial correlation network indicates links between wellbeing, loneliness, FOMO and problematic internet use in university students

Research findings on inter-relationships between subtypes of Problematic Internet Use with wellbeing, loneliness and Fear of Missing Out are inconsistent. The present study used psychometric assessments on the subtypes, general problematic internet use, problematic smartphone use, problematic social media use, problematic gaming, and problematic pornography use, loneliness, wellbeing and FOMO from 834 university students (mean age 22 years, 45% male) to explore these relationships in a partial correlation network and using variance partitioning. A partial correlation network provides a coherent representation of the inter-relationships between the factors in a network topology. The impacts of the relationships are quantified by variance partitioning which quantifies the unique variance explained by individual predictor variables and that explained by their overlap with other variables. The analysis suggests that gender differences exist; increased student loneliness and reduced wellbeing are linked directly to general problematic internet use, particularly for the lonely or those with reduced wellbeing and more so for males. Fear of Missing Out is linked to social media and smartphone use. Inconsistent findings in previous research may be explained by confounding variables. Educational institutions should offer support to students to develop awareness of the potential negative consequences of problematic internet use for student health.