Comparing social media users and non-users in Germany: Sense of control, addictive social media use, stress and insomnia symptoms

Stress symptoms are a part of everyday life for many people. Some people perceive the situations that cause the symptoms as challenges and respond with functional coping strategies to them. Others tend to intensive use of social media (SM) to escape the negative experiences. The present study investigated whether such behavior could be a dysfunctional coping strategy. We compared people who use SM with those who do not use any form of SM in terms of sense of control, symptoms of stress and insomnia. Moreover, we investigated mechanisms associated with addictive social media use (SMU). Data of 1,718 persons (859 SM users: men: 51.8 %, women: 48.2 %; M age = 54.32, SD a ge = 16.04; 859 non-users: men: 46.0 %, women: 54.0 %; M age = 54.62, SD age = 16.56) from the German general population were collected via an online survey. SM users had a significantly lower sense of control, and significantly higher symptoms of stress and insomnia than non-users. In the user group, stress symptoms mediated the association between sense of control and addictive SMU. Furthermore, addictive SMU statistically predicted insomnia symptoms. The found effect sizes were small. The present findings show that engaging in SMU to escape stressful experiences can be a dysfunctional coping strategy. Persons who intensively engage in online activity when they experience a loss of control and increased stress symptoms can be at risk for addictive tendencies and a decline in mental health. Potential ways how to protect this group against the negative effects of online activity are discussed.