Social Media Addiction and Well-Being: A Mapping of Global Research Trends and Intellectual Structure (2015–2025)

The escalating prevalence of social media addiction and its profound implications for psychological well-being necessitate a comprehensive understanding of the field’s global intellectual structure and thematic evolution. Despite the expanding body of literature, a systematic, large-scale mapping is needed to delineate dominant research clusters, key cross-national collaborations, and persistent gaps. Therefore, this bibliometric analysis aims to map the global intellectual structure, productivity trends, and thematic development of 698 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2015 and 2025, retrieved from the Scopus database. The dataset underwent rigorous preprocessing via OpenRefine for data harmonization, followed by scientific mapping using VOSviewer to generate co-authorship and keyword co-occurrence networks. The analysis indicates a significant and accelerating upward trend in publications, largely dominated by contributions from the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and India, with evidence of complex, multi-clustered international collaboration. Keyword co-occurrence analysis revealed seven major thematic clusters centered around internet addiction, depression, anxiety, and psychological distress, validating core linkages between problematic social media use and negative mental health outcomes. Critically, the findings reveal a concentrated research focus that implicitly highlights significant future inquiry gaps concerning cross-cultural variability across different global regions, the systematic development of digital well-being intervention strategies, and the integration of robust theoretical frameworks to guide policy. This study offers a high-precision, current overview for international researchers and policymakers, guiding evidence-based decision-making and prioritizing future high-impact research pathways.

Social Media Addiction, Well-Being, Bibliometric Analysis, VOS viewer

1. Al-Khoury, A., Hussein, S. A., Abdulwhab, M., Aljuboori, Z. M., Haddad, H., Ali, M. A., Abed, I. A., & Flayyih, H. H. (2022). Intellectual Capital History and Trends: A Bibliometric Analysis Using Scopus Database. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(18). https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811615 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Allcott, H., Braghieri, L., Eichmeyer, S., & Gentzkow, M. (2020). The welfare effects of social media†. American Economic Review, 110(3), 629–676. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85083421439&partnerID=40&md5=27d902f49f2f19dedda3aa93972553af [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Alves, J. L., Borges, I. B., & De Nadae, J. (2021). Sustainability in complex projects of civil construction: Bibliometric and bibliographic review. Gestao e Producao, 28(4). https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9649-2020v28e5389 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Appio, F. P., Cesaroni, F., & Di Minin, A. (2014). Visualizing the structure and bridges of the intellectual property management and strategy literature: a document co-citation analysis. Scientometrics, 101(1), 623–661. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-014-1329-0 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Arora, S., & Mehta, M. (2023). Love it or hate it, but can you ignore social media? A bibliometric analysis of social media addiction. Computers in Human Behavior, 140, 107606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.107606 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Bedir, M., Taşdelen-Karçkay, A., & Koçyiğit-Özyiğit, M. (2025). Social media addiction and mental well-being: Serial mediation by mindfulness and satisfaction with family life. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 10(1). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Chauhan, R., Al-Tarawneh, A. M. A., Al-Dmour, N. A., …, & Ghazal, T. M. (2025). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Social media addiction: A comprehensive state of mental health. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(2). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Fahimnia, B., Sarkis, J., & Davarzani, H. (2015). Green supply chain management: A review and bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Production Economics, 162, 101–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2015.01.003 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Gu, D., Li, T., Wang, X., Yang, X., & Yu, Z. (2019). Visualizing the intellectual structure and evolution of electronic health and telemedicine research. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 130, 103–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2019.08.007 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Mim, M. N., Firoz, M., Islam, M. M., …, & Habib, M. T. (2024). A study on social media addiction analysis on the people of Bangladesh using machine learning algorithms. Bulletin of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, 13(1). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Moqbel, M., Alshare, K., Erskine, M. A., & Bartelt, V. (2024). WhatsApp social media addiction and mental health: Mindfulness and healing use interventions. Behaviour & Information Technology, 43(2). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Pellegrino, A., Stasi, A., & Bhatiasevi, V. (2022). Research trends in social media addiction and problematic social media use: A bibliometric analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 1–18. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Sao, R., Chandak, S., Barhate, B., & Mondal, S. (2024). Social media and Gen Z’s mental well-being: Impact of excessive usage on anxiety, stress, and depression levels analysis. Purushartha, 17(1). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2007). Bibliometric mapping of the computational intelligence field. International Journal of Uncertainty, Fuzziness and Knowldege-Based Systems, 15(5), 625–645. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218488507004911 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2010a). Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics, 84(2), 523–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2010b). Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics, 84(2), 523–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2017). Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer. Scientometrics, 111(2), 1053–1070. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2300-7 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Wu, Y. C. J., & Wu, T. (2017). A decade of entrepreneurship education in the Asia Pacific for future directions in theory and practice. In Management Decision (Vol. 55, Issue 7, pp. 1333–1350). https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-05-2017-0518 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Yuan, J. (2025). Is there a relationship between social media user intensity and mental well-being? An exploratory study. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 29(1). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Zacharias, B. S., Upendra, S., Kamble, M., & Sharma, S. R. (2025). Connecting virtually, living authentically: Understanding social media addiction’s influence on a sample of college students’ psychological well-being. American Journal of Health Education, 56(1). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• A Comparative Study of Adjustment Level, Parental Income and Academic Achievement of Adolescent Girls
• Increase in STIs among Adolescents in Masvingo District
• A Correlation between SDG 4 (Quality Education) and Emotional Disposition of Teacher Educators in Hyderabad District
• Ear Piercing Behaviour and Self-Esteem among Male University Students in Nigeria
• A Study of Religiosity and Psychological Well-Being