Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36618890›Full record

ArticleHealth psychology and behavioral medicine2023

Associations between social media use and loneliness in a cross-national population: do motives for social media use matter?

Tore Bonsaksen, Mary Ruffolo, Daicia Price, Janni Leung, Hilde Thygesen, Gary Lamph, Isaac Kabelenga, Amy Østertun Geirdal

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health psychology and behavioral medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  14. Caregiver Mental Health Across Generations.Journal of family issues · 2025
    Article
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  19. The Mediating Role of Hopelessness in the Relationship Between Social Media Addiction and Loneliness Among Adolescents.Journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing : official publication of the Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nurses, Inc · 2025
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Tore BonsaksenDepartment of Health and Nursing Science, Faculty of Social and Health Science, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum, Norway.
Mary RuffoloSchool of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Daicia PriceSchool of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Janni LeungFaculty of Health and Behavioural Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Hilde ThygesenDepartment of Occupational Therapy, Prosthetics and Orthotics, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.
Gary LamphSchool of Nursing, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom.
Isaac KabelengaDepartment of Social Development Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.
Amy Østertun GeirdalDepartment of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe aimed to examine the association between social media use and loneliness two years after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

methodsParticipants were 1649 adults who completed a cross-sectional online survey disseminated openly in Norway, United Kingdom, USA, and Australia between November 2021 and January 2022. Linear regressions examined time spent on social media and participants' characteristics on loneliness, and interactions by motives for social media use.

resultsParticipants who worried more about their health and were younger, not employed, and without a spouse or partner reported higher levels of loneliness compared to their counterparts. More time spent on social media was associated with more loneliness (

conclusionsOur findings suggest that people who use social media for the motive of maintaining their relationships feel lonelier than those who spend the same amount of time on social media for other reasons. While social media may facilitate social contact to a degree, they may not facilitate the type of contact sought by those who use social media primarily for this reason.

Indexed as

COVID-19cross-cultural studylonelinessmoderation analysissocial media

Identifiers

PMID36618890
PMCPMC9817115

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.