SynthesisBMC psychology2025
Relationship between online social support and problematic internet use: a three-level meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of internet addiction in hospitalized adolescents: proposing a hospital-adapted moderated dual mediation model of emotional dysregulation and social compensation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- From Adversity to Short Video Addiction: Psychological Distress and Online Social Support as Mediators Among Rural Chinese Left-Behind and Non-Left-Behind Adolescents.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Loneliness and AI chatbot dependence in young adults: the mediating role of perceived social support.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Internet addiction and appearance anxiety among university students in Shanghai: upward social comparison as a mediator and autonomous participation in physical activity as a moderator.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Mobile internet use, physical exercise and depression levels: mediating mechanism and empirical evidence.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Despite the common advantages, such as increased life satisfaction and mental health, online social support (OSS), as a product of the digital age, has a potential negative influence on fostering problematic internet usage (PIU). Many studies have suggested that OSS is positively associated with PIU. The present study conducts a three-level meta-analysis to examine the extent to which OSS is correlated with PIU and analyzes various moderators to identify sources of research heterogeneity. After searching and screening the literature, we identified 26 studies, including 23,396 participants and 44 effect sizes, for analysis. Results showed that OSS was significantly and positively related to PIU. Moreover, moderator analyses showed that the association between OSS and PIU was moderated by the measurement of both OSS and PIU. We propose that individuals should be aware of the potential risks associated with OSS and proactively develop their offline social networks to establish a more robust social support system. This approach can potentially mitigate reliance on virtual social interactions while reducing the likelihood of problematic internet usage.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.