SynthesisFrontiers in psychology2026
"Looking up" linked to feeling down: a meta-analysis of online upward social comparison and psychological maladjustment.
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 2 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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Association between problematic internet use and depressive symptoms among individuals at high-risk of cannabis use disorder: a cross-sectional study in Quebec (Canada).Addictive behaviors reports · 2026Article
- Smartphone addiction and self-esteem among university students: a moderated mediation and latent profile analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 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
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Social media has become a routine setting for self-evaluation, and upward social comparison with perceived better-off others may be associated with psychological maladjustment. However, the average magnitude of this association across outcome domains and the contextual factors that may moderate it remain unclear. Methods: This meta-analysis synthesized 94 effect sizes from 54 independent samples ( Results: The estimated average correlation between upward social comparison and psychological maladjustment was Discussion: Online upward social comparison is, on average, associated with multiple indicators of poorer psychological functioning, with particularly strong links to social-evaluative negative emotions. These findings highlight the need for future longitudinal and culturally contextualized research on digital comparison processes.
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Registered trials
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