Effect of acute stress on cue reactivity and craving in online buying-shopping disorder and social network use disorder

Background: Cue reactivity and craving are considered as underlying mechanisms of the development and maintenance of substance-use disorders and behavioral addictions. Empirical evidence outlined the relevance of cue reactivity and craving in online buying-shopping disorder (BSD) and social-network use disorder (SNUD). Based on theoretical frameworks, it is assumed that stress perception influences affective and cognitive responses in individuals with pathological online usage. In the current study we aim to investigate the effect of acute stress on craving experiences in individuals with BSD or SNUD compared to individuals with non-problematic use.

Methods: The current sample of a multi-center study (FOR2974) includes 267 female participants, which were classified as individuals with pathological or non-problematic use of online shopping (npathological=63, nnon-problematic=66) or social networks (npathological=74, nnon-problematic=64) based on a diagnostic interview using for each potential disorder modified DSM-5 criteria for gaming disorder. Afterwards, participants were randomly assigned to a stress-condition or placebo-condition using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) before assessing cue reactivity and craving with a cue-reactivity paradigm. Cortisol assessments and mood responses were measured at four different times.

Results: The results indicated successful stress induction in the stress-condition compared to the placebo-condition illustrated by changes in mood responses and cortisol assessments. We found significant changes in craving experiences, which differ between individuals with pathological and non-problematic usage as well as between online buying shopping and social network use, where individuals with SNUD showed highest craving experiences. There were no significant interactions between stress perception, pathological usage, and type of usage.

Conclusions: The experience of cue reactivity and craving are key mechanisms in online BSD and SNUD reflecting components of addictive behavior. The amount of craving experiences differs between both usage behaviors which might be the result of different usage patterns in daily life. Acute stress does not affect craving experiences in general, however, cortisol responses indicate differences in stress perception between online buying shopping and social network use.