Parents in the Netherlands are increasingly concerned about the negative impact of social media on their adolescent. Adolescents are susceptible to experiencing Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), while being on social media. Previous research shows that FoMO can lead to problematic social media use (PSMU). Furthermore, low self-esteem can make an individual less effective in dealing with FoMO. However, it remains unknown whether self-esteem impacts the longitudinal relationship between FoMO and PSMU in early adolescence (10-16 years). 

The present study examined this relationship through multiple hierarchical regression, considering both gender and age as covariates. Two waves of 6-month longitudinal data among 176 Dutch parent (mean age= 44.4, sd= 5.84)- adolescent (mean age= 12.76, sd= 1.68, 52.3% boys) dyads were used. Findings suggested that a positive interaction effect, high FoMO and high self-esteem, predicts more PSMU six months later. However, there was no direct association between FoMO and PSMU. Contrary to the expectation, these findings suggest that high self-esteem is a prerequisite for adolescents with FoMO to develop PSMU. This gives potentially relevant targets for interventions to reduce PSMU in early adolescence.