Social media fatigue in nursing students: the role of self-control, social comparison, and fear of missing out

The rapid expansion of social media has been accompanied by increasing reports of psychological and physical fatigue among users. Nursing students may be particularly vulnerable due to their high academic workload, clinical stress, and constant reliance on digital communication. This study aimed to examine the roles of self-control, social comparison, and fear of missing out (FoMO) in predicting social media fatigue among nursing students. In this cross-sectional study, 223 nursing students from Guilan University of the Medical Science were recruited through convenience sampling. Validated instruments were used, including the Brief Self-Control Scale, the Iowa–Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure, the FoMO Scale, and the Social Media Fatigue Scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and stepwise multiple regression in SPSS version 26 and the significant level was set at 0.05. Social media fatigue was negatively correlated with self-control (r = − 0.394, P < 0.001) and positively correlated with social comparison orientation (r = 0.320, P < 0.001) and fear of missing out (r = 0.480, P < 0.001). In the regression model, FoMO (β = 0.56, P < 0.001), self-control (β = − 0.39, P < 0.001), and social comparison in the ability dimension (β = 0.19, P = 0.048) were significant predictors of social media fatigue. The findings indicate that Low self-control, high FoMO, and frequent ability-based comparisons were associated with higher levels of social media fatigue. Nursing curricula could incorporate digital self-regulation workshops, FoMO awareness training, and mindful technology-use guidelines to help reduce social media fatigue.