Mental health‐related information behavior among adolescents around the world: A systematic review. An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper

Adolescence is a developmental period when many young people develop mental health challenges. This systematic review synthesizes the evidence from the Library and Information Science and cognate literature on the information behavior of adolescents as they seek information on mental health problems. By identifying general patterns of information seeking, information sharing, and information use, the review aims to inform the design of information services for young people. The databases searched were Web of Science, Scopus , Library & Information Science Abstracts , and the ACM Digital Library from 2013 to July 18, 2024. Of the 3114 items retrieved, 18 met the inclusion criteria, and backward citation chaining identified one additional eligible article, resulting in 19 studies focused on adolescents aged 13–19 years and examining mental health‐related information behavior, information literacy, or help‐seeking. Findings indicated that adolescents engaged in dynamic information behavior, including active seeking, avoiding, passive encountering, and combining information seeking with social interactions. These behaviors were influenced by individual characteristics, sociocultural factors, and technological affordances. The findings suggest that effective mental health information services should promote mental health literacy, improve the discoverability of trustworthy and developmentally appropriate information, and foster collaboration among information professionals, educators, health professionals, and system designers.