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• 30.07.2026

People who turn to online gaming, social media or shopping apps after a stressful day are often looking for distraction or relief. But what determines whether this develops into problematic Internet use? A research team led by Dr. Silke M. Müller at the UDE investigated the everyday online behaviour of 900 adults. Their findings show that while people with problematic Internet use experience higher levels of stress and negative mood, the decisive factor driving them online is temptation. The study* has now been published in PLOS One.

Problematic Internet use refers to a pattern of behaviour in which online activities such as gaming, pornography use, online shopping or social networking become so dominant that they begin to interfere with everyday life. Researchers have long assumed that people turn to the Internet to cope with stress or negative emotions, potentially leading to problematic patterns of use. However, whether these mechanisms actually unfold in everyday life has remained largely unexplored.

Over the past three years, Dr. Silke M. Müller, from the Department of General Psychology: Cognition, and her colleagues from the FOR2974 Research Unit interviewed more than 1,200 adults. Around 900 participants were then followed over a two-week period. Each evening, they completed questionnaires about their mood, stress levels, temptation to go online, time spent online and the consequences of their Internet use. They also reported whether Internet use had brought them pleasure or relief and whether it had caused them to neglect other activities. Before the study began, participants were classified as having non-problematic, risky or pathological Internet use based on standardized diagnostic interviews.

“Our study shows that the temptation to go online is a crucial link between stress, mood and problematic Internet use. It determines whether people engage in online activities – experiencing short-term pleasure or relief while at the same time neglecting other areas of their lives,” says Müller.

Unlike many previous studies, the researchers followed participants in their everyday lives over a period of 14 days. This allowed them to identify why people choose to go online at specific moments. “Understanding these processes is essential for improving prevention and treatment strategies,” explains first author Andreas Oelker. “Our findings suggest that helping people recognize and manage moments of temptation may be more effective than focusing solely on stress or mood.”

* The study is based on data collected within the German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded Research Unit FOR2974, ‘Affective and Cognitive Mechanisms of Specific Internet-use Disorders’. The Research Unit aims to improve understanding of the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms underlying problematic Internet use in order to develop better prevention and treatment strategies. It is led by Prof. Dr. Matthias Brand, who is also a co-author of the PLOS One publication.
 

Further information:
Dr. Silke M. Müller, Department ‘General Psychology: Cognition and Center for Behavioral Addiction Research’, University of Duisburg-Essen, Phone: +49 203 379-2253, silke.m.mueller@uni-due.de
Andreas Oelker, Department ‘General Psychology: Cognition and Center for Behavioral Addiction Research’, University of Duisburg-Essen, Phone: +49 203 379-2253, andreas.oelker@uni-due.de