The Association Between Social Media Use and Loneliness Among Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Social media is of growing importance when children become adolescents. Its social function and the fact that loneliness is very common in the adolescents life phase, makes it interesting to examine the association between social media use and loneliness. Moreover, there is controversy in theories and in the empirical field regarding the association between loneliness and social media use among adolescents. Therefore, this study aims to shed light on the association by conducting a meta-analysis. In this meta-analysis, 42 studies were included with adolescents from 12-25 years old, in 18 countries. Random-effects analyses and regression analyses were conducted. The results showed no significant association between social media use and loneliness. Furthermore, the influence of several moderators on the association were examined: gender, age, used loneliness questionnaire, country and social media platform. All those categories did not significantly predict the strength of the association between adolescents’ social media use and loneliness. Separate meta-analyses were conducted for active and passive social media use. These meta-analyses were also not significant. Further research should focus on more specific motivations and mechanisms of social media use, rather than broad categories and time spent on social media.