IMPACT OF CYBER STALKING ON MENTAL HEALTH: MODERATING ROLE OF FEAR OF MISSING OUT AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to measure the effects of cyber stalking on university students' mental health. The current study used a cross-sectional survey research design to conduct a correlation investigation. University students (N=400) from various universities in Pakistan made up the sample for the study. These students were further divided into males (N=200) and females (N=200). To gather the data, a purposeful sampling strategy was employed. To measure hypotheses, three self-report measures were used. The amount of cyber stalking was determined by scoring responses to 15 statements on a liker-type scale (Isabella et al., 2021). The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS), which is consists on 14 items, was used to measure mental health (tennant et al., 2007).Fear of missing out was measured using and The score from The Fear of Missing Out Scale FoMO (Przybylski, et al., 2013). To guarantee the normalcy of the sample, psychometric characteristics and descriptive statistics were established. The results of a correlation analysis showed a substantial inverse relationship between cyber stalking and mental health, with the fear of missing out playing a Significant moderating  effect. For testing hypotheses, multiple regression and moderation analysis were used. All variables had gender-related mean differences that were statistically significant.  The results showed that moderating role of fear of missing out on the relationship of fear of cyber stalking and mental health, while cyber stalking had a considerable detrimental influence on mental health.