When Digital Stress Can Also Be Positive

Digital technologies and media are deeply integrated into our everyday lives. They keep us connected, are the prerequisite for work processes, enable quick coordination, inspiration, entertainment, learning, support and much more. At the same time, this creates digital stress, which we are not always able to manage well and which can lead to negative health consequences.

Bavaria's Science Minister Markus Blume emphasises: "Interdisciplinary, highly topical and with added value for all of us: the approach of the ForDigitHealth research network was and is exemplary. Digital technologies and media determine our everyday lives - the effects must be thoroughly analysed, which is why we have funded the research network with a total of around 3.4 million euros. The results now provide us with important information on how we - individually and as a society - can deal with the phenomenon of 'digital stress'. I am particularly pleased that the results will also be made available to everyone in an online guide."

In addition to Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), the universities of Augsburg, Bamberg, Erlangen-Nuremberg and Munich (LMU) also took part in the project. The alliance was funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts with around 3.4 million euros over four years.

Various Facets Were Investigated

The Bavarian research network ForDigitHealth spent four years researching the healthy use of digital technologies and media and found out: It depends on the attitude towards stress. If an individual categorises it as a challenge rather than a burden, stress can also have a positive effect on improved performance and well-being. However, the conditions must be right for this to happen: trained media skills or support from colleagues or an IT helpdesk that enables those seeking help to solve problems and not just solve the problem itself. In such a situation, the body is put on short-term alert in order to cope with the situation. In the long term, however, this stress can also be linked to illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and depression.

The reason for this is the long-lasting inflammatory processes that the body undergoes as part of the stress response when people are exposed to stress over a long period of time. According to the scientists involved, Dr Manfred Schoch and Professor Nicolas Rohleder (co-speaker, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg): "Repeated stressful situations throughout the working day can trigger chronic stress in the long term, which makes people ill. In particular, the amount of digital work is a driver of chronic digital stress in the workplace."

ForDigitHealth has also researched how digital technologies need to be designed using user-centred design processes in order to reduce digital stress. The IT department broke new ground and developed technology for working while walking, for example, as movement is very well suited to reducing stress. They also worked on how apps can be used to better manage digital stress and presented initial prototypes.

Professor Elisabeth André (University of Augsburg), co-spokesperson of the network, emphasises: "We have taken our sponsor's requirement to work in a truly interdisciplinary manner seriously, i.e. to integrate methods, theories and perspectives from the five specialist disciplines represented and to achieve new findings. In addition to the demand for interdisciplinarity, we also had the task of contributing to the social discourse on the topic of digital stress."

Online Guide Provides Tips

The Bavarian Research Network has prepared possible solutions for dealing with digital stress. In "Digital Stress: The Guide", information and tips on causes, consequences and effects have been published for the public on the association's website. The underlying publications can also be easily found in the guide. The network is made up of recognised experts from the five specialist disciplines of medicine, psychology, computer science, business informatics and communication science. The topic of digital stress was researched within the framework of five overarching cross-sectional topics and in a total of eleven sub-projects.

The Sub-projects at a Glance

Prof. Dr Gerhild Nieding and Dr Wienke Wannagat, developmental psychologists at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, dealt with digital stress in adolescents as well as young and older adults and the question of what digital media literacy can look like and how it can be implemented in practice.

Prof Dr Henner Gimpel, business information scientist at the University of Augsburg and the University of Hohenheim, worked on two sub-projects dealing with the management of digital stress in the workplace and the question of whether stress can also have positive effects in addition to the known negative consequences. On the other hand, the project investigated how apps can be used to help people deal with digital stress.

Prof Dr Jeffrey Wimmer, a communication scientist at the University of Augsburg, asked how people perceive digital stress in their free time, how they deal with it and what role their social environment plays in this.

Prof. Dr Susanne Kinnebrock, communication scientist at the University of Augsburg, looked at the question of how digital stress is portrayed in the media (including in online forums) and which environments, causes and symptoms are discussed there.

Prof Dr Nicolas Rohleder, health psychologist at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, looked at the connection between psychological and biological stress reactions.

Prof. Dr Dennis Nowak and Prof. Dr Matthias Weigl, occupational physicians at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and medical psychologists at Bonn University Hospital, looked at the long-term effects of short- and medium-term stress reactions triggered by digital technologies and media in the workplace environment.

Prof Dr Tim Weitzel and Prof Dr Christian Maier, business information scientists from the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, have asked themselves whether digital stress is "contagious" and can spread to other people, e.g. in teams at work.

Prof. Dr Elisabeth André, computer scientist at the University of Augsburg, addressed the question of whether artificial intelligence can recognise signs of digital stress and how users can be involved in the learning and development process of AI.

Prof. Dr Albrecht Schmidt, computer scientist at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, looked at the question of how a human-centred design of digital technologies can lead to a health-promoting effect.

Prof Dr Matthias Berking, clinical psychologist, Prof Dr Björn Eskofier, computer scientist (both at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Prof Dr.-Ing. habil. Björn Schuller, computer scientist at the University of Augsburg, have researched how apps can be optimised to improve mental health.

Further Links

Digital stress: The guide  (in German)

Website of the research network