Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41112559›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in psychology2025

Psychological "effects" of digital technology: a meta-analysis.

Daniela-Elena Lițan

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 3 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. 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

1 author.

Daniela-Elena LițanDepartment of Psychology, West University of Timișoara, Timișoara, Romania.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: The digital "revolution" brings along consequences at the individual level, consequences in terms of mental health, both positive and negative. Therefore, the purpose of the meta-analysis presented in this work is to investigate, in the adult population, the associated factors (psychological distress, anxiety, depression, stress, burnout, loneliness and social isolation, insomnia, and psychological well-being (PWB)) by means of digital technology represented by Artificial Intelligence (AI), remote work (RW), smartphone, social media (SM), and smart technologies used in tourism (STT). Methods: The meta-analysis was performed between June 2020-June 2024, and the protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42024560285). Forty-seven papers involving a total of 36,100 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Standard meta-analytic procedures were applied, and correlation coefficients (r) were used as measures of effect size. Results: The highest positive value of the effect was obtained for the association between PWB and the use of the digital environment (AI, RW, and STT) Discussion/Conclusion: This meta-analysis highlights that digital technologies have both positive and negative effects on adult mental health, reflecting the complex impact of the digital environment. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/search, CRD42024560285.

Indexed as

digital eradigital revolutiondigital transformationmental healthmeta-analysis

Identifiers

PMID41112559
PMCPMC12531271

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.