A Review: How Does ICT Affect the Health and Well-Being of Teenagers in Developing Countries

In developing agendas regarding teenagers' use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries, both health and well-being are typically ignored or assumed to have minor impacts on their lives. The purpose of this study is to describe the positive and negative effects of adopting ICT on teenagers' health and well-being in developing countries. Several databases were searched to identify articles investigating the positive impacts, negative impacts, and evaluation of mobile health (mHealth) technologies in developing countries. The analyses concluded that teenagers in developing countries are leveraging mHealth applications to access health services, information and interact with physicians remotely. However, the long-term effect of ICT use can be seen in depressive symptoms, musculoskeletal pain, or even anxiety. Many researchers have yet to explore the potential of ICTs from different aspects of teenagers' health and well-being; however, the negative impacts are more pervasive where ongoing studies have been conducted in the past years. The review provides insight into the benefits of ICT on teenagers in developing countries, but it is crucial to be aware of the negative implications on future health and well-being.