Introduction
addictive behavior, addictive behaviors
DISORDER, DISEASES
When demands (seemingly) exceed subjective resources individuals can perceive stress that manifests in psychological, behavioral, and physiological responsesDrawing on the concrete association between stress and the use of social networks, a comprehensive overview by Wolfers and UtzA coping-hypothesis (i.e., the use of social networks to overcome stress experiences) is also a prominent approach of recent research arguing that the excessive use of social networks might show addictive characteristics. Yet not being recognized as clinical disorder, researchers discuss the problematic use of social networks as potential “other specified disorder due to addictive behaviors”, which could be categorized in the Sect. 6C5Y in the International Classification of Diseases 11th (ICD-11) of the World Health OrganizationRecent models that explain the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors therefore subsume addictive social-networks use as a specific subtype of addictive behaviorsFocusing on stress and addictive behaviors, the I-PACE model by Brand, et al.Consequently, theories around the use of social networks posit a stress-buffering-hypothesis (i.e., social-networks use as an adaptive strategy) as opposed to a coping-hypothesis (i.e., social-networks use as a maladaptive coping strategy favoring addictive behavior patterns in the long run). Both theoretical considerations find empirical support. Exemplarily, Rus and TiemensmaHowever, less is known if it is still an adaptive strategy to cope with stress compared to other non-digital strategies when individuals experience negative consequences due to the use of social networks. Based on the hypothesized model by Wolfers and Utz