Association between problematic social networking use and anxiety symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: BMC Psychology Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 263 - 22
• Main Authors: Du, Mingxuan, Zhao, Chengjia, Hu, Haiyan, Ding, Ningning, He, Jiankang, Tian, Wenwen, Zhao, Wenqian, Lin, Xiujian, Liu, Gaoyang, Chen, Wendan, Wang, ShuangLiu, Wang, Pengcheng, Xu, Dongwu, Shen, Xinhua, Zhang, Guohua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 12-05-2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Addictions; Addictive behaviors; Analysis; Anxiety; Anxiety - psychology; Attachment anxiety; Care and treatment; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Diagnosis; Fear; Fear of missing out; Generalized anxiety; Health aspects; Humans; Independent sample; Influence; Internet Addiction Disorder - psychology; Keywords; Longitudinal studies; Meta-analysis; Pandemics; Problematic social networking use; Sample size; Social anxiety; Social aspects; Social media; Social Networking; Social networks; Systematic Review; Variables; China; Fear of missing out; Generalized anxiety; Problematic social networking use; Social anxiety; Attachment anxiety; Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 2050-7283; 2050-7283
• DOI: 10.1186/s40359-024-01705-w

A growing number of studies have reported that problematic social networking use (PSNU) is strongly associated with anxiety symptoms. However, due to the presence of multiple anxiety subtypes, existing research findings on the extent of this association vary widely, leading to a lack of consensus. The current meta-analysis aimed to summarize studies exploring the relationship between PSNU levels and anxiety symptoms, including generalized anxiety, social anxiety, attachment anxiety, and fear of missing out. 209 studies with a total of 172 articles were included in the meta-analysis, involving 252,337 participants from 28 countries. The results showed a moderately positive association between PSNU and generalized anxiety (GA), social anxiety (SA), attachment anxiety (AA), and fear of missing out (FoMO) respectively (GA: r = 0.388, 95% CI [0.362, 0.413]; SA: r = 0.437, 95% CI [0.395, 0.478]; AA: r = 0.345, 95% CI [0.286, 0.402]; FoMO: r = 0.496, 95% CI [0.461, 0.529]), and there were different regulatory factors between PSNU and different anxiety subtypes. This study provides the first comprehensive estimate of the association of PSNU with multiple anxiety subtypes, which vary by time of measurement, region, gender, and measurement tool.