The relationship between media literacy and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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.