Adolescents and Young Adults Desire Access to Engaging, Understandable, and Socially Relevant Health Research Findings.

Purpose

Adolescents and young adults are an often-overlooked audience whose emerging identity and autonomy shape long-term health behaviors and trust in science. However, most health research dissemination still targets adults and academic audiences. This study seeks to inform inclusive, youth-centered dissemination strategies to bridge the gap between knowledge and public empowerment.

Methods

Youth aged 14-24 years were polled via a nationwide longitudinal text messaging study, MyVoice. Participants received 5 open-ended questions that asked about their understanding of and access to health research. Content analysis focused on how youth described health research, their access patterns, and their preferences for dissemination. The intent was to find both the commonalities and variations in their answers and the underlying rationale.

Results

Of 796 invitees, 605 (76.0%) completed at least one question, and 504 (63.3% of invitees; 83.3% of respondents) completed all 5 questions. Overall, 334 (61.9%) participants reported ever intentionally searching for health research, and the overwhelming majority (97.1%) supported youth access to health research. Participants emphasized information being presented accurately and in comprehensible ways in order to ensure credibility and avoid information overload or misinformation. Participants' preferred methods for receiving health research findings were online (22.8%), digital correspondence (email, call, text; 21.4%), social media (19.6%), health care providers/clinics (11.4%), and the news (10.0%).

Discussion

Adolescents and young adults are not passive recipients but are highly engaged individuals who overwhelmingly support their right to accessible and understandable health information. Youth involvement in health research is no longer viewed as optional but as integral to ethical and effective practice.