The relationship between burden caused by coronavirus (Covid-19), addictive social media use, sense of control and anxiety

Abstract

The outbreak of Covid-19 has significantly restricted people's everyday life and contributed to enhanced social media use (SMU). The present study investigated the relationship of burden caused by Covid-19 and addictive SMU. Data were assessed in a sample of 550 users of social media (age: M (SD) = 27.08 (6.74)) from Germany via online surveys in spring 2020. In a moderated mediation analysis, the positive association between burden and addictive SMU was significantly mediated by the level of perceived sense of control. Anxiety symptoms significantly moderated the relationship between sense of control and addictive SMU. Specifically, the link between both variables was significant only for medium and high levels of anxiety symptoms. The present findings disclose the mechanisms that can contribute to the development of addictive tendencies during the pandemic outbreak. Potential practical implications and ways of how the negative consequences of burden caused by Covid-19 might be prevented are discussed.

Keywords: Addictive social media use; Anxiety symptoms; Burden; Covid-19; Sense of control.

Fig. 1

Moderated median model with burden caused by Covid-19 (predictor), sense of control (mediator), anxiety symptoms (moderator) and addictive social media use (outcome).