Technostress and Coping in the Digital Workplace: A Systematic Review of Stress Creators, Coping Strategies, and Organizational Moderators

Abstract

This systematic review synthesizes evidence from 58 empirical studies (2010–2025) examining technostress creators and coping strategies across diverse occupational contexts. Techno-overload emerged as the most frequently studied stressor, followed by techno-invasion and techno-complexity, consistently predicting burnout, emotional exhaustion, and diminished job satisfaction. Problem-focused and proactive coping strategies, particularly technology self-efficacy, IT mindfulness, and training, demonstrated the most robust effectiveness in mitigating negative outcomes, while reactive strategies showed context-dependent utility. Organizational technostress inhibitors and perceived organizational support consistently buffered technostress effects, with amplified benefits in remote and hybrid work arrangements. Individual moderators, notably self-efficacy and age (with older workers exhibiting paradoxically lower strain despite higher perceived complexity), significantly shaped coping efficacy. Despite emerging frameworks distinguishing techno-eustress from techno-distress, approximately three-quarters of studies focused exclusively on negative outcomes, leaving the positive potential of technology understudied. The review reveals critical methodological limitations, including heavy reliance on cross-sectional self-report designs (35 of 58 studies) and substantial heterogeneity in coping operationalization, limiting causal inference. These findings advance a contingency model wherein coping effectiveness depends upon the specific techno-stressor, available resources, and work arrangement context.

Keywords: Technostress, technostress creators, coping strategies, perceived organizational support, digital workplace, systematic review.