JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Continuous scientific and policy debate regarding potential harm and/or benefit of media and social media on adolescent health has resulted, in part, from a deficiency in robust scientific evidence. Even with a lack of scientific consensus, public attitudes and sweeping social media prohibitions have swiftly ensued. Still, critically absent from these debates, public attitudes, and emerging policies is attention to a diverse portrait of adolescent populations globally, and their use of diverse language/cultural/technological media and social media.

Objective:

To guide communication policy and practice, including those addressing access to social media by adolescent populations, this study applies a health equity lens to assess physical and mental health information scanning and seeking behaviors in diverse language/cultural/technological media and social media among Latinx adolescent residents in the United States. This study also examines these health information behaviors across mental health symptoms to examine patterns in how Latinx adolescent populations experiencing mental health concerns may be turning to media and social media to support their mental health.

Methods:

In 2021, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 701 U.S.-based Latinx adolescents ages 13-20 to assess their health-related media use. Assessments ascertained frequency of media use and mental and physical health information scanning and seeking across various media technologies (e.g., television, podcasts, social media) and language/cultural types (i.e., Spanish, Latinx-tailored-English, and general-English). Linear regression models were used to estimate adjusted predicted means of mental and physical health information scanning and seeking across diverse language/cultural media types, net personal/family factors, in the full sample and by subsamples of mental health symptoms (moderate/high versus none/mild).

Results:

Among Latinx adolescents, media and social media use was similar across mental health symptoms. However, Latinx adolescents with moderate/high versus none/mild symptoms more often scanned general-English media and social media for mental health information (p<.05), although not for physical health information. Also, Latinx adolescents with moderate/high versus none/mild symptoms more often sought mental health information on Latinx-tailored and general-English media, and social media (p<.05); a similar pattern was found for physical health information seeking. Additionally, Latinx adolescents with moderate/high versus none/mild symptoms more often sought help from family/friends for mental/physical health problems and healthcare providers for mental health only (p<0.05).

Conclusions:

While media and social media usage was similar across mental health, Latinx adolescents with moderate/high symptoms more often encountered mental health content in general-English media and social media and turned to general-English and Latinx-tailored media and social media more often for their health concerns. Together these study findings suggest more prevalent and available mental health content in general-English versus Spanish-language and Latinx-tailored media and underscore the importance of providing accessible, quality health information across diverse language/cultural/technological media and social networks, both in-person and online, as a viable opportunity to help improve adolescent health.