P3A006: Adolescent Perspectives on Passive and Active Exposure to Health Information on Social Media: A Qualitative Analysis

Background: Approximately 68% of young people use social media to learn about their health. However, adolescents are also frequently exposed to social media content they do not intentionally search, through algorithm recommendations and shared content. It remains unclear how adolescents perceive health information viewed passively on social media. The purpose of this study was to better understand adolescents’ encounters with health information on social media viewed through both active seeking and passive exposure.

Methods: This focus group study was funded by an AAP Friends of Children grant. We recruited adolescents ages 13-18 years using purposeful sampling from community health groups and youth advisory boards. Adolescents completed a demographic survey and then participated in one of seven virtual focus groups composed of three to eight participants. Focus group questions were semi-structured and focused on active and passive exposure to health information. Focus groups were recorded via Zoom and transcribed. Three investigators were involved in inductive thematic analysis of the transcripts and identified themes through an iterative, consensus driven process.

Results: A total of 36 adolescents participated in focus groups. Adolescents were 69.4% female, 41.7% white, and had an average age of 15.9 years (SD = 1.3). Thematic analysis revealed four themes: 1) Concerns about inaccurate and harmful information: adolescents expressed skepticism about the reliability of health information they were passively exposed to on social media and a desire to avoid encountering harmful content including unhealthy diet recommendations. 2) Frequent passive exposure to mental health content: while adolescents described passive exposure to a variety of health topics on social media, mental health information was especially prevalent. 3) Preference for convenience: when discussing both passive exposure and active seeking, adolescents preferred health content that was brief, uncomplicated, and present on platforms they used often. 4) Cross-checking as challenging: even when skeptical, adolescents found assessing the credibility of health information inconvenient, challenging, and time-consuming. Adolescents were more inclined to check multiple sources if they were actively seeking health information but found cross-checking passive information to be burdensome.

Conclusion: We found that although adolescents were concerned about inaccurate and harmful health information on social media and aware of ways to assess credibility, they valued convenience. Our findings can inform the development of health information tools tailored for teens to ensure reliable, convenient content, perhaps utilizing social media platforms where passive exposure is high. Given our finding that adolescents frequently encounter mental health information passively, increasing the availability of accurate social media content on mental health could be especially impactful.