A meta-analysis of the problematic social media use and mental health
Chiungjung Huang
International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2022, vol. 68, issue 1, 12-33
Abstract:
Background: Although previous meta-analyses were conducted to quantitatively synthesize the relation between problematic social media (SM) use and mental health, they focused on Facebook addiction. Aims: The purpose of this meta-analysis is to examine this relation by extending the research scope via the inclusion of studies examining problematic use of all platforms. Method: One hundred and thirty-three independent samples ( N =244,676) were identified. Results: As expected, the mean correlations between problematic SM use and well-being are negative, while those between problematic SM use and distress are positive. Life satisfaction and self-esteem are commonly used to represent well-being, while depression and loneliness are usually used to indicate distress. The mean correlations of problematic SM use with life satisfaction and self-esteem are small, whereas those of problematic SM use with depression and loneliness are moderate. The moderating effects of publication status, instruments, platforms and mean age are not significant. Conclusions: The magnitude of the correlations between problematic SM use and mental health indicators can generalize across most moderator conditions.
Keywords: Mental health; well-being; distress; meta-analysis; problematic social media use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:68:y:2022:i:1:p:12-33
DOI: 10.1177/0020764020978434
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