Via Research Recognition Day 2024 VCOM-Carolinas

Educational Reports

The Fear of Missing out and Health-Conscious Drinking: A Study of College Students’ Prioritization of Health as it Relates to Alcohol Use Jessica Cefalo, MS 1 , Rose Marie Ward, PhD 2 1. VCOM-Carolinas, Spartanburg, SC 2. University of Cincinnati (Department of Psychology), Cincinnati, OH Introduction Results Discussion and Conclusions

Alcohol consumption continues to be a concern on college campuses with 65.1-75.4% of college males and 53.9 65.9% of college females having experienced binge drinking episodes 2, 5 . Research suggests there are common factors associated with binge drinking, like peer pressure or social influences, including the fear of missing out (FoMO) 1, 4 . FoMO is anxiety associated with not being able to partake in certain experiences 4 . Students with higher levels of FoMO also tend to consume more alcohol 4 . While research indicates FoMO is linked to riskier drinking, it is largely unknown if people with FoMO also have different styles of drinking. One such style is health-conscious drinking, which may be used as a coping mechanism for FoMO. Health consciousness is the extent that one cares about their health and is willing to partake in health promoting behaviors 3 . Recently, many students have started demonstrating health-conscious behaviors while drinking by choosing healthier alcoholic beverages that are lower in calories, carbohydrates, or sugar content. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between college students’ level of FoMO and their consumption of health-conscious alcohol. Moreover, to examine how social pressure in college can be related to FoMO and choosing to drink health-consciously. The current study aimed to bridge the gap between FoMO and health-conscious drinking, given the limited research in this area. A survey was administered to students at a Midwestern University who have consumed alcohol within the last month. The Fear of Missing Out Scale (M = 2.27; SD = .84) , Drinking Norms Rating From (DNRF )(M = 16.77; SD = 9.82) , Drinking Frequency , Health-Conscious Drinking Motives Scale (M = 2.00; SD = 1,27) , and Health-Conscious Drinking Scale ( M = 3.45; SD = 1.67) were utilized in a survey to collect data. Linear regression analysis was used to determine if FoMO, health-conscious drinking motives, and/or drink total predicted health-conscious drinking. The regression equation was significant. Correlations were used to evaluate FoMO, Health-Conscious Drinking, Health-Conscious Drinking Motives, Drink Total, and the Drinking Norms Rating Form. Methods

Table 1. Correlations Between FoMO, Health-Conscious Drinking, Health-Conscious Drinking Motives, and Drink Total.

355 college students participated in the study and 70.7% identified as female, 89.3% as Caucasian and 8.2% as Asian/Asian American. • There was a significant relationship between the amount of FoMO experienced by a person and their motive to drink health-consciously. • The more a person believes they are missing out on an alcohol-related social event, the greater their perceived frequency and quantity of alcohol use by others at that event. Limitations: Limitations included utilization of a survey method that had limited generalizability due to participant demographics, data collection occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the interpretation of what health-conscious drinking means. Future Research: It is important that future research focuses on gaining a more representative demographic sample and utilizing different sampling methods. A scale that specifically measures FoMO as it relates to consuming alcohol would be useful for increasing internal validity. Future research should also focus on establishing an operational definition of health-conscious drinking. This study provides supportive evidence for the relationship between a new social phenomenon, FoMO, and a new behavior, health-conscious drinking. This relationship could produce a more problematic drinking outcome with FoMO being a risk factor for experiencing negative consequences due to alcohol consumption 4 . This study has helped to provide information for a currently vacant area in research regarding motivations for choosing health-conscious drinking behaviors.

Health-Conscious Drinking

Health-Conscious Drinking Motives

* p < 0.05 ** p < .001

FoMO

Drink Total

1. FoMO

--

2. Health-Conscious Drinking

0.078

--

3. Health-Conscious Drinking Motives

0.200**

0.294**

--

4. Drink Total

0.022

-0.126**

0.150**

--

Mean

2.42

3.40 1.00

1.93

7.37 8.94

Standard Deviation Cronbach’s Alpha

.85

.84

0.888

0.923

0.814

--

Table 2 . Correlations Between FoMO, Health-Conscious Drinking, Health-Conscious Drinking Motives, and the Drinking Norms Rating Form. • Higher levels of FoMO were significantly correlated with motivation to drink in a health-conscious manner, but there was no significant correlation seen between higher levels of FoMO and actual health-conscious drinking behaviors used. • Results did not show that an increase in levels of FoMO correlated with increased alcohol consumption, contrary to previous research 4 .

Health-Conscious Drinking

Health-Conscious Drinking Motives

* p < 0.05 ** p < .001

FoMO

Perceived Frequency of Alcohol Use Yourself

.088 .052 -.003 .114* .054 .074 .133* .054 .159** .068 .079 -.048 .033 .013 .022 -.046 .027 .073 -.007 .084

-.015 .029 .007 .116 .014 .021 .010 .156* .072 .028 -.060 -.113 -.066 -.032 .030 -.055 -.112 .087 -.078 -.058

.325** .293**

Your close friends Students in general Male students Female students On-campus students Off-campus students Fraternity members Sorority members Your close friends Students in general Male students Female students On-campus students Off-campus students Fraternity members Sorority members

.116

.193** .193** .146** .212** .160** .171** .144* .329** .291** .216** .290** .243** .217** .185** .234** .212** .199**

Students of the same race as you

References

Perceived Quantity of Alcohol Use Yourself

1. Clark, A. E., & Lohéac , Y. (2007). “It wasn’t me, it was them!” Social influence in risky behavior by adolescents. Journal of Health Economics , 26(4), 763-784. 2. Croteau, V., & Morrell, J. S. (2019). Prevalence of Binge Drinking Episodes Among Male and Female College Students (P18-008-19). Current developments in nutrition , 3(1). 3. Espinosa, A., & Kadić - Maglajlić , S. (2018). The Mediating role of health consciousness in the relation between emotional intelligence and health behaviors. Frontiers in Psychology , 9, 2161. 4. Riordan, B. C., Flett, J. A., Hunter, J. A., Scarf, D., & Conner, T. S. (2015). Fear of missing out (FoMO): The relationship between FoMO, alcohol use, and alcohol-related consequences in college students. Annals of Neuroscience and Psychology , 2(7), 1-7. 5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020, September 15). Vaping, marijuana use in 2019 rose in college-age adults. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/vaping marijuana-use-2019-rose-college-age-adults. Miami University Institutional Review Board [Annual Alcohol and College Health Survey; 02943e; approved November 11, 2021] Acknowledgements

Students of the same race as you

• Data was in accord with the prediction that the more a person believes they are missing out on an alcohol related social event, the more they would believe people are drinking at that event.

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2024 Research Recognition Day