Mattia Pezzi, Paola Corsano, Gianluca Santoro, Alessio Gori, Manuel Gámez-Guadix, Alessandro Musetti

Key words: aloneness, loneliness, problematic social media use, social media, solitary experience, solitude

Objective: This study was conducted to summarize existing studies on the association between solitary experiences and problematic social media use (PSMU) among young adults.

Method: A systematic review was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines, implemented in Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and PsycINFO. We selected studies if they presented original data, assessed solitary experiences and PSMU in young adults (i.e., 18-30 age range), were published in peer reviewed journals between 2004 and 2023, and were written in English.

Results: After duplicate removal, 1,841 eligible studies were found. From these, 12 articles were selected, encompassing 4,009 participants. Most studies showed a positive association between general loneliness and PSMU. Some of these suggested that this relationship varies based on the facets of loneliness, other potential variables, and the type of social media. No mediating factors were found. Few studies assessed solitary experiences other than general loneliness, highlighting the need for a multidimensional perspective on solitary experience in investigating PSMU.

Conclusions: Implications and future research orientations are discussed.