Digital well-being theory and research

Digital well-being concerns individuals' subjective well-being in a social environment where digital media are omnipresent. A general framework is developed to integrate empirical research toward a cumulative science of the impacts of digital media use on well-being. It describes the nature of and connections between three pivotal constructs: digital practices, harms/benefits, and well-being. Individual's digital practices arise within and shape socio-technical structural conditions, and lead to often concomitant harms and benefits. These pathways are theoretically plausible causal chains that lead from a specific manifestation of digital practice to an individual well-being-related outcome with some regularity. Future digital well-being studies should prioritize descriptive validity and formal theory development.

Automated summary

Digital well-being research focuses on the impact of digital media on individual well-being, emphasizing the relationships between digital practices, harms/benefits, and well-being. There are theoretically plausible causal chains between digital practices and outcomes related to individual well-being, and future research should prioritize descriptive validity and formal theory development.