Media literacy interventions: meta-analytic review of 40 years of research

We conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of 160 media literacy interventions from 1983 to 2023, finding overall positive effects. Effects were larger for media-over behavior-relevant outcomes and for social over health topics. Stronger effects were found for knowledge outcomes at both immediate-post and delayed follow-up assessments. Attitudes and critical beliefs predicted behavior. No substantial decay in effects was observed between immediate-post and follow-up assessments for multiple outcomes but not for behavior. Interventions targeting social media showed smaller effects for some outcomes compared to those that did not. Online delivery had smaller effects for various outcomes compared to in-person delivery. These findings suggest challenges and opportunities regarding digital and social media for the interventions. Dose was inconsistently linked to outcomes. No significant relationship was found between study year and effect size. The heterogeneity of effects observed across variables suggests a need for more parsimonious frameworks in media literacy research.