Exploring the relationship between social media use and loneliness in adolescents and young adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Feng HP, Lien YJ, Cian SY, Wang WY, Li YT, Chen CH, Wu YY
Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 0 citas
Cómo se estudió
- Diseño
- Metaanálisis (indexado por PubMed)
- Estudiado en
- Personas
- Resultado principal
- Marcadores de salud y funcionamiento
Quién lo pagó
- Financiación
- Financiación independiente
- Gobierno
- Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan
- Gobierno
- National Science and Technology Council
- Subvenciones
- Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (2410-H-003)
Según 2 financiadores declarados y la declaración de financiación del texto completo.
Publicación
- Publicado
- 2026-07-21 · Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · vol. 61 · número 8 · págs. 1345–1359
- Editorial
- Springer Science+Business Media
- Citado
- 3 citas · más que el 98% de estudios similares · 11.6× el promedio de su campo
- Impacto
- Entre el 10 % más citado de su campo
- Referencias
- 65 trabajos
- Acceso
- Acceso abierto (revista híbrida) · CC-BY
- Áreas de investigación
- Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Child Development and Digital Technology · Health disparities and outcomes
- Palabras clave
- social media use, loneliness, adolescents, young adults, social media addiction, time spent on social media, active vs passive social media use
- MeSH
- humans, adolescent behavior, loneliness, adolescent, female, male, young adult, social media, media exposure, digital media
7 autores
- Hsin‐Pei Feng🇹🇼National Taiwan Normal University
- Yin‐Ju Lien🇹🇼 · autor de correspondenciaNational Taiwan Normal University
- Sih-Yu Cian🇹🇼National Taiwan Normal University
- Wei-Ya Wang🇹🇼National Taiwan Normal University
- Ying-Ting Li🇹🇼National Taiwan Normal University
- Chao-Hui Chen🇹🇼National Taiwan Normal University
- Yiyun Wu🇹🇼National Taiwan Normal University
Resumen
El texto original del estudio, en el idioma en que se publicó.
Purpose
As social media becomes increasingly integrated into adolescents' daily lives, concerns have grown regarding its potential association with loneliness, a prevalent challenge during this developmental period. This meta-analysis examines the relationship between social media use and loneliness, with particular attention to different patterns of engagement.
Methods
A systematic search of six databases was conducted for studies published between January 2000 to May 2025. Fifty-nine eligible studies were identified, comprising 67 independent samples with a total of 81,344 participants (59.5% female; mean age = 17.6 years, range = 12.5-24.9). Random-effects models were used to compute pooled effect sizes. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses examined potential moderators, including geographic region, gender, and publication year.
Results
Substantial heterogeneity was observed across studies (I2 = 87.86%-97.01%). Meta-regression analyses showed no significant moderating effects of geographic region, gender, or participants' year. However, problematic social media use showed a moderate and consistent association with greater loneliness (r = 0.29, 95% CI [0.22-0.35], p < 0.001), whereas time spent on social media demonstrated a smaller but significant correlation (r = 0.07, 95% CI [0.01-0.12], p = 0.014). No significant differences were found between active and passive use in relation to loneliness.
Conclusions
These findings underscore the importance of distinguishing usage patterns when examining the psychological effects of social media and indicate the need for additional rigorous investigation to clarify the mechanisms underlying its relationship with loneliness in adolescence.
Resumen vía Europe PMC. Los derechos de autor siguen siendo de los autores o la editorial (CC BY).
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