ReviewDigital health
Social media used as a health intervention in adolescent health: A systematic review of the literature.
Review in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of social media interventions on physical activity and dietary behaviours in young people and adults: a systematic review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2021Pooled it
- The use of social media in nutrition interventions for adolescents and young adults-A systematic review.International journal of medical informatics · 2018Pooled it
- Associations of critical thinking and social media addiction with eHealth literacy among adolescent social media users.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Student Perceptions of the School eHealth Education Program Pakistan (eSHEPP): A Qualitative Study of Acceptability, Feasibility, and Awareness of Non-Communicable Diseases.Research square · 2026Article
- Article
- School eHealth education program Pakistan (eSHEPP): an exploratory qualitative study of stakeholder perspectives on design, barriers, and facilitators.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- Digital Phenotyping Measurement of Smartphone Social Behavior is Associated with Illness Progression Risk Scores in Young People at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2025Article
- School eHealth Education Program Pakistan (eSHEPP) to improve NCDs awareness in adolescents from urban Pakistan: a mixed method design protocol.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- School eHealth Education Program Pakistan (eSHEPP): An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Stakeholder Perspectives on Design, Barriers, and Facilitators.Research square · 2025Article
- Precision Prevention through Social Media: Report of Four Cases.Yearbook of medical informatics · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Social Media Interventions for Nutrition Education Among Adolescents: Scoping Review.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2023Article
- Hormonal contraception and thrombosis: Identifying the gaps in knowledge among females in post-secondary education.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Developing Reporting Guidelines for Social Media Research (RESOME) by Using a Modified Delphi Method: Protocol for Guideline Development.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- #Skinny girls: young girls' learning processes and health-related social media.Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health · 2022Article
- Core psychosocial issues for children and adolescents in the context of limb lengthening and reconstruction surgery treatment.Journal of children's orthopaedics · 2021Article
- Feasibility and Acceptability of an Adolescent-Friendly Rap Video to Improve Health Literacy Among HIV-Positive Youth in Urban Peru.AIDS and behavior · 2021Article
- Translatability of a Wearable Technology Intervention to Increase Adolescent Physical Activity: Mixed Methods Implementation Evaluation.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Article
- A latent class analysis of adolescents' technology and interactive social media use: Associations with academics and substance use.Human behavior and emerging technologies · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAdolescents are known to be high users of social media, and social media is beginning to be used in health care. The primary objective of this review was to determine the current state of play on the use of social media as a health intervention in addressing the health of adolescents.
methodsSix databases were searched: CINAHL, Medline, Scopus, ProQuest, Psych Info and Science Direct, from 2000-2013. The review process followed PRISMA guidelines with quality assessments of the selected articles undertaken.
resultsThree studies used social media as a health intervention in adolescent health. Facebook was the social media of choice. The way this social media tool was incorporated as the intervention varied. None of the social media interventions had a significant or sustained impact on the primary outcomes of the studies reviewed. Measures of social media process were limited and lacked meaning.
conclusionsThe selected papers provided insight into the beginning phase of using social media as a health intervention to address adolescent health. The review highlights three important areas for consideration when undertaking research on the use of social media as a health intervention for adolescents: the newness of using social media as a health intervention, the importance of the use of rigorous methodological processes when using social media as a health intervention, and the need to develop further knowledge on adolescents' use of social media, in particular their hidden world of social media.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.