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The digital well-being among learners in higher education: a scoping review
Farhana Harzila Mohd Bahar1,2, Nurhanis Syazni Roslan2, Nicholas Pang Tze Ping3
1Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Introduction:
Digitalisation has changed how we learn and share knowledge. The rapid growth of technology has transformed how people interact with themselves, each other, and their environment, impacting their well-being. Despite increasing attention in this area, existing studies often examine related constructs, such as technostress, problematic internet use, or digital addiction, in isolation rather than conceptualising digital well-being as a multidimensional and integrative construct. This review aimed to systematically map the functional elements of digital well-being among higher education learners and their relation with overall well-being outcomes.
Method:
Primary literature from January 2018 to October 2023 was collected using the three-phase search strategy according to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review guideline. Terms 'digital well being' OR 'digital well-being' OR 'digital wellbeing' AND 'higher education' AND 'learners' were searched from the Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus databases. In this review, functional elements were conceptualised as both characteristics of the digital environment and the cognitive, behavioural, and emotional processes through which learners engage with these environments. All peer-reviewed articles that describe the effects of digitalisation on the well-being of all learners in higher education institutions were included.
Results:
Out of the 348 articles initially identified, 34 were reviewed, covering 10,838 undergraduate and postgraduate students from 23 countries. Among studies that reported age, participants ranged from 17 to 48 years, reflecting variation across study populations. Eight interconnected themes emerged: digital self-regulation, digital self-efficacy, digital intention, digital conduct, digital engagement, digital support, digital resources, and digital safety. Among these, digital self-efficacy is conceptualised as a central enabling component within the proposed framework, shaping learners' ability to engage meaningfully in a digital environment. Poor self-regulation was the most frequently reported source of adverse outcomes, while digital conduct and safety remained underexplored with limited evidence of their direct impact on well-being.
Conclusions:
Digital well-being appears to be shaped by the interaction of individual capabilities, behavioural patterns, and digital environments. The proposed framework offers a conceptually grounded synthesis that may inform future research, particularly in the development of measurement tools and context-sensitive strategies to support digital well-being in higher education.
