AUTHOR=Lițan Daniela-Elena 

TITLE=Psychological “effects” of digital technology: a meta-analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1560516

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1560516

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=IntroductionThe 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).MethodsThe 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.ResultsThe highest positive value of the effect was obtained for the association between PWB and the use of the digital environment (AI, RW, and STT) r = 0.435, and the highest negative effect value was obtained for the association between burnout and the use of the digital environment (AI and RW) r = −0.478. The moderation analysis further clarified the role of contextual variables.Discussion/ConclusionThis 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 registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/search, CRD42024560285.