Review: Social media use and adolescent mental health - an umbrella review and power analysis.
Katrine B Tølbøll
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This umbrella review and power analysis synthesized peer-reviewed reviews and meta-analyses published from 2021 to 2025 on social media use (SMU) and mental health in adolescents aged 10–24 years. It included 72 reviews, of which 20 were meta-analyses. General SMU had weak and inconsistent associations with well-being and ill-being, whereas problematic SMU was consistently associated with ill-being. Power analyses of 17 meta-analyses found that all meta-analyses examining problematic SMU and ill-being had median study-level power above 99%; power was less adequate for general SMU and well-being.
Key findings
- All meta-analyses examining problematic SMU and ill-being had median study-level power above 99%.
- Only 4 of 15 meta-analyses of general SMU reached median study-level power above 80%.
- Only 4 meta-analyses examining well-being reached median study-level power above 80%.
- General SMU showed weak and inconsistent associations with well-being and ill-being; problematic SMU was consistently linked to ill-being.
Why it matters
The review suggests that inconsistent findings about general social media use and adolescent mental health may partly reflect inadequate statistical power, rather than evidence that associations are absent. Distinguishing general from problematic use and improving power in future studies may help clarify which patterns of use relate to mental health outcomes.
What to keep in mind
The power analyses used reported effect sizes from eligible meta-analyses, and the review’s conclusions are limited to the reviews and meta-analyses published between 2021 and 2025.