Towards digital balance. A data-driven scoping review of the research landscape at the intersection of digital media use and health

Abstract How can we stay healthy in an increasingly digital society? The current study evaluates the literature at the intersection of health and digital media use. It identifies which universally relevant topics are studied using a quantitative, reproducible topic modelling approach to inform a scoping review. Relevant scientific literature was identified in July 2023 using three databases (Web of Science, PubMed and PsycInfo). Topics of interest were determined in the integrated corpus (N = 136 394) by evaluation of keywords for health relevance, resulting in 554 relevant keywords. Keywords were then sorted into topic groups and the content of each topic group was summarized, primarily using reviews and meta-analyses in each group. We retained 16 topic groups of interest: physical health covers sleep, exercise/sports, sedentarism/bodyweight, physical symptoms, eye health and eating. Mental health covers negative and positive mood states, fatigue/burnout, self-image, cognition and brain, focus/concentration and academic performance. Social health covers both social support and negative social states. Emerging topics echo earlier work by the World Health Organization, but also identified new elements. Only a small number of studies covered multiple health domains. We suggest that evidence based advice about healthy engagement in digital media use and screen time could benefit from a broader focus.