Chloe S. Gordon , Kelly Ferber , Tanya Notley , Rachel F. Rodgers , Emma Bradshaw , Geetanjali Basarkod , Joel Anderson , Siân A. McLean , Simone Mizzi , Hannah K. Jarman , Jessica Dickson , Taren Sanders , Amy Slater , Erin Pearson , Theresa Dicke
{"title":"The relationship between media literacy and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis","authors":"Chloe S. Gordon , Kelly Ferber , Tanya Notley , Rachel F. Rodgers , Emma Bradshaw , Geetanjali Basarkod , Joel Anderson , Siân A. McLean , Simone Mizzi , Hannah K. Jarman , Jessica Dickson , Taren Sanders , Amy Slater , Erin Pearson , Theresa Dicke","doi":"10.1016/j.edurev.2025.100731","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Media literacy and well-being are interconnected topics that have garnered increasing attention in recent years due to the proliferation of media platforms and the influence they can exert on individuals' mental health and overall well-being. Media literacy is a lifelong educational process, defined as the ability to critically access, analyse, evaluate, create, and contribute to media. It is especially important for children and adolescents who are more susceptible to negative media influences. Well-being encompasses both feeling good and functioning effectively, and is associated with numerous benefits including increased productivity and creativity, and better relationships, health and life expectancy. Guided by the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement, this systematic review and meta-analysis examined the associations between media literacy and well-being. The search identified 15 studies involving 47 effect sizes across a variety of dimensions of media literacy. Together, the studies had 16,632 participants and 51.8 % comprised school-aged populations. The analysis initially revealed a statistically significant, small to medium, positive association between media literacy and well-being (r = .19, 95 % CI [.01, .35]); however, this association was no longer significant following sensitivity analyses. The ‘Media Literacy Dimension’ significantly moderated the pooled effect. A medium-sized positive association between media literacy and well-being was observed when the media literacy measure was solely focussed on analysing/evaluating the media (<em>r</em> = .24, 95 % CI [.05, .41]). No other significant moderating factors were found. However, due to limitations such as small sample size and significant heterogeneity among the studies, these findings should be interpreted with caution, especially when considering implications for educational policy or curriculum integration. Further research, especially using longitudinal and experimental designs, is needed to better understand the nature and direction of this relationship and to inform practical applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48125,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research Review","volume":"49 ","pages":"Article 100731"},"PeriodicalIF":10.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Educational Research Review","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X25000685","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Media literacy and well-being are interconnected topics that have garnered increasing attention in recent years due to the proliferation of media platforms and the influence they can exert on individuals' mental health and overall well-being. Media literacy is a lifelong educational process, defined as the ability to critically access, analyse, evaluate, create, and contribute to media. It is especially important for children and adolescents who are more susceptible to negative media influences. Well-being encompasses both feeling good and functioning effectively, and is associated with numerous benefits including increased productivity and creativity, and better relationships, health and life expectancy. Guided by the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement, this systematic review and meta-analysis examined the associations between media literacy and well-being. The search identified 15 studies involving 47 effect sizes across a variety of dimensions of media literacy. Together, the studies had 16,632 participants and 51.8 % comprised school-aged populations. The analysis initially revealed a statistically significant, small to medium, positive association between media literacy and well-being (r = .19, 95 % CI [.01, .35]); however, this association was no longer significant following sensitivity analyses. The ‘Media Literacy Dimension’ significantly moderated the pooled effect. A medium-sized positive association between media literacy and well-being was observed when the media literacy measure was solely focussed on analysing/evaluating the media (r = .24, 95 % CI [.05, .41]). No other significant moderating factors were found. However, due to limitations such as small sample size and significant heterogeneity among the studies, these findings should be interpreted with caution, especially when considering implications for educational policy or curriculum integration. Further research, especially using longitudinal and experimental designs, is needed to better understand the nature and direction of this relationship and to inform practical applications.
期刊介绍:
Educational Research Review is an international journal catering to researchers and diverse agencies keen on reviewing studies and theoretical papers in education at any level. The journal welcomes high-quality articles that address educational research problems through a review approach, encompassing thematic or methodological reviews and meta-analyses. With an inclusive scope, the journal does not limit itself to any specific age range and invites articles across various settings where learning and education take place, such as schools, corporate training, and both formal and informal educational environments.