The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a persistent worry that others are enjoying rewarding experiences without you and a desire to stay connected to what others are doing (Pryzbylski et al., 2013). While FOMO has primarily been studied in relation to social media use and internet addiction, its connection to developmental experiences, like parenting and parent-child relationships, remains unclear. This study explored how parental use of psychological control, parental autonomy-granting, and parental warmth were related to FOMO in early adolescence. Participants included 225 adolescents from the Southern United States (50.2% girls; 51.1% White, 44.9% Black; Mage = 12.55, SDage = 0.97). Adolescents’ report of parental psychological control was significantly associated with adolescent FOMO, even when controlling for depression and anxiety. However, warmth and autonomy-granting were unrelated to adolescent FOMO. In line with other research, findings connect parental use of psychological control with anxiety about maintaining social connections.
