Global well-being and mental health in the internet age

Matti Vuorre, Andrew K Przybylski

Research output: Working paperOther research output

Abstract

In the last two decades the rise of internet technologies have impacted nearly all domains of human life and inspired concern that their widespread adoption has had a harmful effect on mental health and psychological well-being. However, research on the topic is contested and hampered by methodological shortcomings leaving the broader consequences of internet adoption unknown. We show that the past two decades have seen only small and inconsistent changes in global well-being and mental health. We demonstrate that the broadest available health and internet technology data does not support the idea that the adoption of internet and mobile broadband has been psychologically harmful on a global level. Moreover, little or no negative associations were observed for adolescents—a group thought particularly vulnerable. Further investigation of this topic requires transparent study of online behaviours where they occur: on online communication, media, social media, and video game platforms. We place an urgent call to increase the collaborative efforts between independent scientists and the internet technology sector.
Original languageUndefined/Unknown
PublisherPsyArXiv Preprints
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes

Cite this