Patti Valkenburg completed two umbrella reviews of the effects of social media use on mental health. An umbrella review is a review of existing meta-analyses and literature reviews.
Both umbrella reviews available on PsyArXiv here and here.
The scientific literature on social media use on mental health and well-being has exploded in the past years. As of 2019, 46 reviews (meta-analyses, systematic, or narrative reviews) on this topic have been published. Yet a recent higher-order synthesis of these meta-analyses and reviews was still lacking.
One of the two umbrella reviews focuses on adolescents (10-18 years) one on adults (18+).
Valkenburg summarizes and synthesizes the findings in existing meta-analyses and reviews. And she presents several important avenues for future research on social media use and mental health.