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Published Online: 1 June 2017

Time Spent on Social Network Sites and Psychological Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis

Publication: Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Volume 20, Issue Number 6

Abstract

This meta-analysis examines the relationship between time spent on social networking sites and psychological well-being factors, namely self-esteem, life satisfaction, loneliness, and depression. Sixty-one studies consisting of 67 independent samples involving 19,652 participants were identified. The mean correlation between time spent on social networking sites and psychological well-being was low at r = −0.07. The correlations between time spent on social networking sites and positive indicators (self-esteem and life satisfaction) were close to 0, whereas those between time spent on social networking sites and negative indicators (depression and loneliness) were weak. The effects of publication outlet, site on which users spent time, scale of time spent, and participant age and gender were not significant. As most included studies used student samples, future research should be conducted to examine this relationship for adults.

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Published In

cover image Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Volume 20Issue Number 6June 2017
Pages: 346 - 354
PubMed: 28622031

History

Published in print: June 2017
Published online: 1 June 2017

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Chiungjung Huang
Graduate Institute of Education, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan.

Notes

Address correspondence to:Dr. Chiungjung HuangGraduate Institute of EducationNational Changhua University of Education1 Jinde RoadChanghua 50058Taiwan
E-mail: [email protected]

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No competing financial interests exist.

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