Table 1 Study characteristics.

From: The effects of social media abstinence on affective well-being and life satisfaction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Study

Country

Duration of social media abstinence

Social media platform(s)

Type of social media abstinence

Outcome(s)

Outcome measure(s)

N

Sample

Inclusion criteria

Female (%)

M age

SD age

Range age

RoB assessment

Preregistration

Open data

Allcott et al.30

United States of America

28Ā days

Facebook

(Messenger was allowed)

All devices

Life Satisfaction

3 items from the SWLS

2,813

Community sample

US resident

Born between 1900 and 2000

Use FB > 15 but < 600Ā min per day

57.6

32.5

11.9

Not reported

Fair

Yes

Available online

Fioravanti et al.31

Italy

7Ā days

Instagram

Smartphone

Tablet

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

Life Satisfaction

PANAS

SWLS

80

Students

Instagram account for at least one year

Daily Instagram user

18 + years old

50.0

24.8

4.2

Not reported

Good

No

Not publicly available

Hall et al.16

USA

7, 14, 21, or 28Ā days

Facebook

Twitter

Snapchat

Instagram

Not specified

Positive Affect

Negative affect

Quality of Day

4 items from the SF-36

3 items from Hughes et al.61 + 1 additional item

4 items adapted from the SWLS

130

Students

Community sample

Not reported

78.5

26.8

11.4

18–68

Fair

Yes

Not publicly available

Hanley et al.17

Australia

United States of America

United Kingdom

7Ā days

Facebook

Instagram

All devices

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

Life

Satisfaction

PANAS

Q-LES-Q-18

78

Adults

English-speaking

18–48Ā years old

Android users

55.1

30.9

7.1

18–48

Fair

No

Not publicly available

Przybylski et al.40

United States of America

United Kingdom

Hong Kong

1Ā day

All social media

Not specified

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

PANAS

297

Students

Not reported

73.7

20.8

3.8

17–56

Fair

Yes

Available on OSF

Stieger and Lewetz19

Germany

7Ā days

All social media

All devices

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

6 items from the I-PANAS-SF

152

Community sample

Adults

70.0

27.4

11.9

18–80

Fair

No

Not publicly available

Tromholt43

Denmark

7Ā days

Facebook

Smartphone

Tablet

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

Life Satisfaction

4 items from the PANAS

5 items from the CES-D Scale

1 item (ā€œIn general, how satisfied are you with your life today?ā€)

888

Community sample

Not reported

86.0a

34a

8.7a

Not reported

Fair

No

Not publicly available

Vally and D’Souza44

United Arab Emirates

7Ā days

All social media

Mobile devices

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

Life Satisfaction

PANAS

SWLS

78

Students

Not reported

52.6

22.1

2.03

18–27

Good

No

Not publicly available

Vanman et al.46

Australia

5Ā days

Facebook

Not specified

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

Life Satisfaction

PANAS

SWLS

123

Community sample

Active Facebook users

63.0a

22.4a

Not reported

18-40a

Good

No

Available on OSF

Wadsley and Ihssen20

United Kingdom

6Ā days

All social media, except instant messaging apps

All devices

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

6 items from the I-PANAS-SF

35

Students

18–25Ā years old

iPhone users

Using at least one SNS daily

68.6a

19.9a

1.16a

18–25

Fair

Yes

Available on OSF

  1. RoB risk of bias, OSF open science framework, PANAS positive and negative affect schedule, SWLS satisfaction with life scale, Q-LES-Q quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction questionnaire, I-PANAS-SF International positive and negative affect schedule short form, CES-D Scale center for epidemiologic studies depression scale.
  2. aTromholt43, Vanman et al.46, and Wadsley and Ihssen20 reported age statistics and gender distribution for their initial sample, but not for their final sample.