Adolescents' Health Information–Seeking Behavior: A Scoping Review

Given the importance of adolescents' well-being and the growing accessibility of health resources, it is imperative to examine the adolescents' health information-seeking behaviors. The aim of this review is to provide a thorough assessment of the health information-seeking behavior of adolescents as evidenced in contemporary literature. A literature search using appropriate keywords was conducted from 2013 to 2023 across various academic databases, including, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Embase, ProQuest, Cochrane, and Persian databases. Initially, 9,162 publications were identified through database searches. After deduplication, 7,774 unique publications were screened, yielding 62 articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria. Findings revealed that adolescents' health information needs often relate to sexual health, disease conditions, and lifestyle aspects. Adolescents typically obtain health information from both the internet and their parents. Several factors influence adolescents' information-seeking behavior, with gender, age, and information-seeking skills garnering more attention than other factors. Despite a plethora of recent investigations into adolescent health information, the complexity of the topic suggests that future research should explore adolescents' use of social networks and their evaluation of health information using a mixed-method approach and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration.