How does social media usage affect loneliness in youth? A systematic review.

Background: Nowadays, social media platforms have become one of the most popular ways of socializing among young people. Precisely because of their centrality, the literature about them is extensive and difficult to summarize. Objectives: The following systematic review, focusing on the relationship between social media usage and loneliness among youth, has the goal of bringing order to a much debated topic. This systematic review is intended to allow the reader to build critical thinking about the nature of the relationship between social media usage and loneliness in youth, to identify new areas of study to investigate and topics to clarify. Methods: The bibliographic research, conducted on the SCOPUS and EBSCOHost platforms, was carried out in two parts. The first one, the study of theoretical literature, tried to trace back to the fundamental studies in the history of social media theories. The second part covers significant studies on the central theme of the research. In this regard, research from 2010 to 2022 was considered. At the end of the studies selection, the number of 19 studies was obtained. These articles were analyzed and discussed. Results: The results illustrate the prevailing findings on the topic. It is shown how most of the articles focus on the study of the effects of social media use or on the antecedents that lead to it. Conclusions: This systematic review represents a further step to collect and have a more precise idea of what multiple studies have investigated and demonstrated. The relationship between social media usage and loneliness in youth is reviewed and the main theories are briefly outlined, accompanied by studies that support them. Findings are discussed and prospects are examined, helping to map out a horizon for future research.