SynthesisJournal of behavioral addictions2025
Impact of digital addiction on youth health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of behavioral addictions, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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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.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Investigating the mediating roles of psychological resilience and digital addiction in the relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health: a meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Linking mental health and digital addiction in general population: an overview of thematic evolution and trends from a science mapping perspective.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Examining the mediating roles of self-esteem and social support in the link between digital addiction and mental health: findings from a meta-analytic structural equation modeling study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Predictors of sedentary behaviour in adults: the role of social media addiction and physical activity - a cross-sectional study from Turkey.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Trends in substance use and associations with internet use among Japanese high school students: A nationwide survey, 2018-2024.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2026Article
- Digital addiction comorbidity patterns and their differential links to internalizing symptoms, suicidal behaviors and non-suicidal self-injury in vocational high school students.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Everyday Digital Technology Use and Youth Health: Scoping Review of Longitudinal Studies.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Article
- Validation and Reliability of the Spanish Internet Addiction Test-7 (IAT-7) for Adolescents.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 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
- Article
- Psychometric validation of selected scales assessing mental health conditions among Ghanaian youth.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- College students' life stress and internet addiction: the roles of loneliness and physical exercise.Frontiers in psychology · 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
17 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and aims: Digital addiction among youth, characterized by excessive and compulsive use of digital devices such as smartphones, computers, and social media platforms, has become a global concern. The present study aimed to investigate the association between digital addiction subtypes in youth and various health outcomes using "digital addiction" as an umbrella term. Methods: We comprehensively reviewed articles reporting health outcomes related to digital addiction in youth from the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, PubMed, and Web of Science databases using a targeted search strategy and assessed them using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Youth with digital addiction were more likely to be overweight or obese (OR: 1.25, 95%CI: 1.03-1.48), reporting poor self-rated health (OR: 1.75, 95%CI: 1.42-2.08), and experience sleep problems such as insomnia (OR: 1.46, 95%CI: 1.33-1.59) and poor sleep quality (OR: 1.50, 95%CI: 1.37-1.64). These individuals also demonstrated higher odds of mental health concerns, including suicidal tendencies (OR: 2.63, 95%CI: 2.36-2.90), symptoms of depression (OR: 1.76, 95%CI: 1.68-1.83), stress (OR: 2.15, 95%CI: 1.79-2.52), and anxiety (OR: 2.14, 95%CI: 1.99-2.28). Furthermore, they were more prone to engage in smoking (OR: 1.55, 95%CI: 1.41-1.68), problematic alcohol consumption (OR: 1.47, 95%CI: 1.33-1.60), and drug use (OR: 1.94, 95%CI: 1.44-2.44). Conclusions: The present findings suggest that digital addiction among youth has a significant and wide range of detrimental health outcomes, including physical, mental, and behavioral issues.
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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 Socratic graph.