Social Networking Site Use and Loneliness: A Meta-Analysis

2022/08/18 by Li‐Bing Zhang, Libing Zhang, Chun Li +3 · 45 citations
Decision Sciences · Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Association (psychology) #Clinical psychology #Developmental psychology #Impact of Technology on Adolescents #Loneliness #Medicine #Meta-analysis #Popularity #Psychology #Psychotherapist #Social Media and Politics #Social psychology #Social relationship #Technology Adoption and User Behaviour

paper · doi:10.1080/00223980.2022.2101420

published in The Journal of Psychology 156(7), 492-511 (Taylor & Francis)

openalex publication_date 2022/08/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

The popularity of social networking sites (SNSs) has drawn researchers’ attention in recent years, and a large amount of efforts have been made to explore the association between SNS use and loneliness, however, they provided mixed results. This meta-analysis was conducted to confirm the relationship, based on 82 articles consisting of 90 independent samples with a total of 48,383 participants. A random-effects model was used to analyze main effects and revealed that SNS use and loneliness were weakly, yet significantly positively correlated (r = 0.052). The type of SNS use moderated the relationship. Specifically, abnormal and passive SNS use was significantly and positively correlated with loneliness; however, no significant differences were observed in the relationships between general and active use of SNSs and loneliness. In addition, the moderating effects of gender, age, and culture were not significant.

Citations

• Operating Characteristics of a Rank Correlation Test for Publication Bias
• Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.
• A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
• A Longitudinal Study of Financial Difficulties and Mental Health in a National Sample of British Undergraduate Students
• “Where are all the lonely people?” A population-based study of high-risk groups across the life span
• Facebook addiction and loneliness in the post-graduate students of a university in southern India
• The Reciprocal Relationship Between Passive Social Networking Site (SNS) Usage and Users’ Subjective Well-Being
• Social Media Elements, Ecologies, and Effects
• Are Social Media Ruining Our Lives? A Review of Meta-Analytic Evidence

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• Solitary Experience and Problematic Social Media Use Among Young Adults: A Systematic Review with Recommendations for Future Research. [europepmc]
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• The associations between social comparison on social media and young adults' mental health. [europepmc]
• From lifestyle psychiatry to whole person health: Evidence, dissemination, and scalable approaches. [europepmc]
• Online Social Support - an Adjunct or Substitute for Traditional Social Support: Cross-Sectional Study. [europepmc]
• Shedding light on mental health problems and potential solutions for young women: results from an anonymous asynchronous online focus group. [europepmc]
• The relationship between loneliness and social networking site addiction among Chinese college students: the roles of fear of missing out and the imaginary audience. [europepmc]
• Simulating Interventions for Symptoms Linking Problematic Social Networking Sites Use to Online Aggressive Behavior Among Chinese College Students: A Gender‐Differentiated Network Analysis [europepmc]

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