Mental health and the internet

A meta-analysis based on 40 studies (43 independent samples, 21,258 participants) found a very small, negative relationship between internet use and indicators of mental health including depression, loneliness, self-esteem, and life satisfaction (r = -0.05; Huang, 2010 ). The effect of all moderators, including type of Internet use, indicator of well-being, quality of Internet use measure, and participant age and gender were insigniﬁcant. Future investigations should consider the possible sources of these differences.