{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T06:09:06Z","timestamp":1789711746814,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Doomscrolling is persistent or repetitive engagement with predominantly negative, threatening, or distressing online information, often accompanied by difficulty disengaging. It overlaps with, but is not interchangeable with, problematic social media use, general negative-news exposure, or broader problematic internet use. We synthesized associations between doomscrolling and mental-health or psychological well-being outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This PROSPERO-registered systematic review and meta-analysis (CRD420261395295) followed PRISMA 2020. Searches covered nine bibliographic, registry, grey-literature, and citation sources through 20 May 2026. Article- or supplement-reported zero-order Pearson or Spearman correlations were synthesized using Fisher\u2019s z transformation and random-effects models with restricted maximum likelihood estimation and Hartung\u2013Knapp adjustment. Adjusted regression or path coefficients and duplicated same-sample scale versions were not pooled. Design-appropriate JBI checklists and GRADE were used for critical appraisal and certainty assessment.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Forty-four reports representing 44 unique studies were included. Twenty-one studies (23 independent analytic samples) contributed 40 effects to the five primary meta-analyses; the remaining 23 reports contributed narrative or nonprimary quantitative evidence. Doomscrolling was associated with anxiety (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.35, 95% CI 0.27\u20130.43), depression (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.35, 95% CI 0.16\u20130.52), psychological distress (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.51, 95% CI 0.37\u20130.62), lower psychological well-being (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f\u22120.29, 95% CI\u202f\u2212\u202f0.38 to \u22120.20), and lower life satisfaction (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f\u22120.25, 95% CI\u202f\u2212\u202f0.37 to \u22120.13). Heterogeneity was high in every domain; for psychological distress,\n                      <jats:italic>I<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      was 86.5% and four of five contributing studies were from T\u00fcrkiye. Certainty was very low for all five outcomes.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Doomscrolling is associated with poorer mental-health and well-being outcomes, but the evidence does not establish causality. Cross-sectional designs, high heterogeneity, residual confounding, and geographic concentration limit inference. Standardized measurement, longitudinal and ecological momentary assessment studies, experiments, and preregistered cross-cultural research are needed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Systematic review registration<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:ext-link>https:\/\/www.crd.york.ac.uk\/PROSPERO\/view\/CRD420261395295<\/jats:ext-link>\n                      , identifier PROSPERO (CRD420261395295).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1893800","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T05:39:01Z","timestamp":1789709941000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Doomscrolling, mental health, and psychological well-being in adolescents and adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Qi","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Aerospace Center Hospital","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xinrui","family":"Yin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Aerospace Center Hospital","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref9010","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11126-025-10236-5","article-title":"Doomscrolling and secondary traumatic stress: psychological distress and just world belief as potential mediating pathways","author":"Ang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Psychiatry Q."},{"key":"ref9002","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.15805\/addicta.2025.24308","article-title":"Nomophobia and psychological well-being: chain mediating role of social network sites addiction and doomscrolling","volume":"13","author":"Antonysamy","year":"2026","journal-title":"Addicta."},{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis","author":"Aromataris","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref9003","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e202613","DOI":"10.30935\/ojcmt\/18143","article-title":"Digital literacy levels of nomophobic individuals in the age of doomscrolling","volume":"16","author":"Biricik","year":"2026","journal-title":"Online J Commun Media Technol."},{"key":"ref9007","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"550","DOI":"10.1037\/ppm0000575","article-title":"Tension in attention: hypervigilance helps explain why marginalization leads to doomscrolling","volume":"14","author":"Blacha","year":"2025","journal-title":"Psychol Pop Media."},{"key":"ref9018","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0257728","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0257728","article-title":"Brief exposure to social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: doom-scrolling has negative emotional consequences, but kindness-scrolling does not","volume":"16","author":"Buchanan","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref9009","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.1186\/s40359-025-03865-9","article-title":"The role of FoMO and nomophobia in explaining the relationship between doomscrolling and poor sleep quality","volume":"14","author":"Camadan","year":"2026","journal-title":"BMC Psychol."},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"l6890","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.l6890","article-title":"Synthesis without meta-analysis (SWiM) in systematic reviews: reporting guideline","volume":"368","author":"Campbell","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref9016","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"491","DOI":"10.30831\/akukeg.1586146","article-title":"The effect of social media addiction on psychological stress: the indirect role of doomscrolling","volume":"18","author":"Cano\u011fullar\u0131","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Theor Educ Sci."},{"key":"ref9015","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"393","DOI":"10.17066\/tpdrd.1570424","article-title":"Psychological well-being and emotion regulation as predictors of doomscrolling","volume":"15","author":"Do\u011fan La\u00e7in","year":"2025","journal-title":"Turk. Psychol. Couns. Guid. J."},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104925","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actpsy.2025.104925","article-title":"Climate change news and doomscrolling: an examination of influencing factors and psychological effects","volume":"255","author":"Dominguez-Rodriguez","year":"2025","journal-title":"Acta Psychol."},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1111\/j.0006-341X.2000.00455.x","article-title":"Trim and fill: a simple funnel-plot-based method of testing and adjusting for publication Bias in Meta-analysis","volume":"56","author":"Duval","year":"2000","journal-title":"Biometrics"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"629","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.315.7109.629","article-title":"Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test","volume":"315","author":"Egger","year":"1997","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"595","DOI":"10.18863\/pgy.1416316","article-title":"Doomscrolling: a review","volume":"16","author":"G\u00fcme","year":"2024","journal-title":"Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"383","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclinepi.2010.04.026","article-title":"GRADE guidelines: 1. Introduction\u2014GRADE evidence profiles and summary of findings tables","volume":"64","author":"Guyatt","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Clin. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3875","DOI":"10.1002\/sim.1009","article-title":"A refined method for the meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials with binary outcome","volume":"20","author":"Hartung","year":"2001","journal-title":"Stat. Med."},{"key":"ref9008","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"108130","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2023.108130","article-title":"Working, scrolling, and worrying: doomscrolling at work and its implications for work engagement","volume":"153","author":"Hughes","year":"2024","journal-title":"Comput Human Behav."},{"key":"ref9017","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"608","DOI":"10.5281\/zenodo.17745747","article-title":"From screens to strain: a study of multiscreen addiction, doomscrolling, and digital burnout in young adults","volume":"6","author":"Hussain","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Media Horizons."},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e010247","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2015-010247","article-title":"Plea for routinely presenting prediction intervals in meta-analysis","volume":"6","author":"IntHout","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref9004","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2513","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-023-17460-3","article-title":"\u2018I cannot see ahead\u2019: psychological distress, doomscrolling and dark future among adult survivors following mw 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes in T\u00fcrkiye","volume":"23","author":"Kartol","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"ref9012","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"219","DOI":"10.1080\/07481187.2024.2317177","article-title":"Development and validation of the earthquake obsession scale","volume":"49","author":"Kartol","year":"2025","journal-title":"Death Stud."},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2323","DOI":"10.1080\/0144929X.2024.2314747","article-title":"Intolerance of uncertainty and mental wellbeing: the mediating and moderating role of doomscrolling","volume":"44","author":"Kaya","year":"2025","journal-title":"Behav. Inf. Technol."},{"key":"ref9013","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3391","DOI":"10.1007\/s11469-025-01580-5","article-title":"Believing happiness lies outside in the digital age: a systemic model of externality of happiness, doomscrolling, schadenfreude, family functioning, and mental well-being","volume":"24","author":"K\u00f6r\u00fcn","year":"2026","journal-title":"Int J Ment Health Addict."},{"key":"ref9014","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.51561\/cspsych.69.4.335","article-title":"Intolerance of uncertainty and psychological adjustment among college students: doomscrolling and hopelessness as multiple mediators","volume":"69","author":"K\u00fct\u00fck","year":"2025","journal-title":"\u010ceskoslovensk\u00e1 Psychologie."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1560516","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1560516","article-title":"Psychological \u2018effects\u2019 of digital technology: a meta-analysis","volume":"16","author":"Li\u021ban","year":"2025","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref9005","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"885","DOI":"10.1002\/ijop.13159","article-title":"Is doomscrolling related to celebrity worship? A cross-cultural study","volume":"59","author":"McCutcheon","year":"2024","journal-title":"Int. J. Psychol."},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"n71","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.n71","article-title":"The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews","volume":"372","author":"Page","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"672","DOI":"10.1080\/07350015.2016.1247004","article-title":"Small-sample methods for cluster-robust variance estimation and hypothesis testing in fixed effects models","volume":"36","author":"Pustejovsky","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Bus. Econ. Stat."},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1186\/s13643-020-01542-z","article-title":"PRISMA-S: an extension to the PRISMA statement for reporting literature searches in systematic reviews","volume":"10","author":"Rethlefsen","year":"2021","journal-title":"Syst. Rev."},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"833","DOI":"10.1007\/s11482-022-10110-7","article-title":"Doomscrolling scale: its association with personality traits, psychological distress, social media use, and wellbeing","volume":"18","author":"Satici","year":"2023","journal-title":"Appl. Res. Qual. Life"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100438","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chbr.2024.100438","article-title":"Doomscrolling evokes existential anxiety and fosters pessimism about human nature? Evidence from Iran and the United States","volume":"15","author":"Shabahang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Comput. Hum. Behav. Rep."},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"460","DOI":"10.1080\/15213269.2022.2157287","article-title":"\u2018Give your thumb a break\u2019 from surfing tragic posts: potential corrosive consequences of social media users\u2019 doomscrolling","volume":"26","author":"Shabahang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Media Psychol."},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1606604","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1606604","article-title":"How should we approach negative news in the media? A \u2018mindful\u2019 and \u2018harmonious\u2019 consumption of negative news by users might be an answer","volume":"16","author":"Shabahang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"144","DOI":"10.1037\/tmb0000059","article-title":"The dark at the end of the tunnel: doomscrolling on social media newsfeeds","volume":"3","author":"Sharma","year":"2022","journal-title":"Technol. Mind Behav."},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"290","DOI":"10.1108\/MHDT-10-2025-0068","article-title":"The influence of doomscrolling on mental health: a scoping review","volume":"3","author":"Sharpe","year":"2026","journal-title":"Mental Health Digital Technol."},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11872","DOI":"10.1007\/s12144-025-07976-9","article-title":"Psychometric analysis of the Italian Doomscrolling scale: associations with problematic social media use, psychological distress, and mental well-being","volume":"44","author":"Soraci","year":"2025","journal-title":"Curr. Psychol."},{"key":"ref9006","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"512","DOI":"10.1002\/jcop.23111","article-title":"Doomscrolling and mental well-being in social media users: a serial mediation through mindfulness and secondary traumatic stress","volume":"52","author":"Taskin","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Community Psychol."},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"112919","DOI":"10.1016\/j.paid.2024.112919","article-title":"Beyond the scroll: exploring how intolerance of uncertainty and psychological resilience explain the association between trait anxiety and doomscrolling","volume":"233","author":"T\u00fcrk-Kurt\u00e7a","year":"2025","journal-title":"Personal. Individ. Differ."},{"key":"ref9001","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"875","DOI":"10.1186\/s40359-026-04651-x","article-title":"Post-earthquake traumatic stress and future time perspective: the indirect roles of problematic social media use and doomscrolling","volume":"14","author":"Ula\u015f","year":"2026","journal-title":"BMC Psychol."},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v036.i03","article-title":"Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package","volume":"36","author":"Viechtbauer","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Stat. Softw."},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"565","DOI":"10.1186\/s12888-024-06006-5","article-title":"Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the doomscrolling scale and the mediating role of doomscrolling in the bidirectional relationship between insomnia and depression","volume":"24","author":"Yang","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref9011","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"579","DOI":"10.1080\/10803548.2025.2557690","article-title":"Psychological determinants of life satisfaction among deck cadets: the mediating role of positivity and doomscrolling","volume":"32","author":"Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m","year":"2026","journal-title":"Int. J. Occup. Saf. Ergon."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1893800\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T05:39:03Z","timestamp":1789709943000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1893800\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"references-count":42,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1893800"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1893800","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"article-number":"1893800"}}