Mental health‐related information behavior among adolescents around the world: A systematic review. An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper
Systematic review reveals dynamic mental health information-seeking and avoidance patterns in adolescents aged 13–19, highlighting the need for trustworthy, discoverable support services.
Key Points
Synthesize multidisciplinary evidence regarding how adolescents seek, share, and utilize mental health information to inform the design of supportive information systems.
Searched Web of Science, Scopus, Library & Information Science Abstracts, and ACM Digital Library for studies published from 2013 through July 18, 2024.
Screened 3,114 retrieved citations and employed backward citation chaining to identify 19 eligible studies focused on adolescents aged 13–19 years.
Adolescents exhibited fluid information behaviors characterized by active query formulation, passive encountering, intentional avoidance, and integrating online searching with interpersonal communication.
Information practices were significantly mediated by personal demographics, sociocultural contexts, and platform-specific technological affordances.
Findings emphasize the need to enhance mental health literacy, improve the discoverability of developmentally tailored digital resources, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration among librarians, educators, and clinicians.