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Updated: Nov 11, 2025

Social Isolation Model: A Noninvasive Rodent Model of Stress and Anxiety
Published on: November 11, 2022
The relationship between burden caused by coronavirus (Covid-19), addictive social media use, sense of control and
1Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
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.
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