SynthesisFrontiers in psychology2026
The relationship between academic burnout and problematic smartphone use: a three-level meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- When the channel is the stressor: delivery medium in burnout interventions for healthcare students.Medical education online · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Associations Among Academic Burnout, Fear of Missing Out, and Smartphone Use Addiction in Chinese University Students: A Two-Wave Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Involution perception and problematic smartphone use among Chinese college students: the indirect role of anxiety and the pathway-specific moderating role of psychological resilience.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: In recent years, the relationship between academic burnout and problematic smartphone use (PSU) has received increasing attention from researchers. However, existing findings remain inconsistent, with some studies reporting a significant positive association while others finding non-significant results. This study aims to systematically examine the association between academic burnout and PSU and to explore potential moderating factors. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive literature search was conducted across Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang databases. A total of 79 studies were included, comprising 115 effect sizes and 68,162 participants. A three-level meta-analytic approach was employed to estimate the overall effect size and to examine potential moderators, including demographic characteristics, study contextual features, publication status, and measurement instruments. Results: The results indicated a moderate positive correlation between academic burnout and PSU (r = 0.438, 95% CI [0.409, 0.467]). Moderator analyses revealed that the relationship was significantly influenced by the year of data collection and the type of PSU measurement instruments used. Discussion: This study provides a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the association between academic burnout and PSU. The findings offer robust empirical evidence to inform the development of targeted prevention and intervention strategies for PSU. Systematic review registration: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/TRMP3.
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