Am I Happier Without You? Social Media Detox and Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

With the penetration of social media into all aspects of people’s lives, there is a growing trend of social media detox (taking a short break from social media). Although social media detox (SMD) has been theorized to influence well-being, vibrant research on this issue presents mixed results. This raises the question of whether SMD has positive or negative effects on well-being, calling for a synthesis of empirical evidence to determine if engaging in SMD can improve well-being. Systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to synthesize evidence on the relationship between SMD and well-being from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A total of 20 RCTs and 56 effect sizes (positive indicators of well-being k = 33; negative indicators of well-being k = 23) were analyzed. The meta-analysis findings using random effects showed that there was a positive and small effect of SMD on well-being, including positive indicators and negative indicators. The results of the moderating analysis showed that there was heterogeneity in the relationship between SMD and well-being caused by cultural background. Moreover, intervention duration moderated the relationship between SMD and negative indicators of well-being. This meta-analysis allows for an integration of conclusions from past studies and establishes a clearer understanding of the relationship between SMD and well-being.