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Purpose Rapid advances in technology create opportunities for adolescents to influence practice and policy in health and other domains. Technology can support the scaling of Youth-Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR), in which adolescents conduct research to improve issues that affect them. We present the first known published systematic review of the use of technology to scale YPAR. Methods A systematic review of the empirical literature was conducted from 2000 to 2018 using databases PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, and PubMed. The review included peer-reviewed articles of YPAR studies involving adolescents (aged 10–19 years) using technology for scaling. Appraisal of papers included the role of technology and consistency with YPAR principles. Results Nine peer-reviewed YPAR publications focusing on a range of health issues with adolescents aged 11–19 years were identified. Technology included Facebook (most common), Twitter, Instagram, Skype, e-mail, blogs, and personalized mapping applications. Overall, technology was primarily used for adolescent participants to gather data. The appraisal revealed the complexities inherent in conducting YPAR using technology across multiple sites, with different adults in supportive roles and varying levels of opportunities for adolescent engagement. Conclusions This review provides insights at the intersection of youth-led research and technology, highlighting opportunities in a changing technological landscape and the challenges of YPAR at scale.

Over the last two decades, there has been attention to promoting meaningful youth “engagement,” “participation” and “voice” in adolescent health [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. UN and other investments in reports, network-building, and meetings like the Bali Global Youth forum raised the visibility of youth engagement as a priority, sharing principles, examples, and challenges across diverse contexts [ [2] , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Recently, the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing provided an overview of youth engagement and health, including barriers to meaningful engagement [ [15] ]. Despite extensive theoretical, ethical, and practice work on youth engagement, particularly in the domain of sexual/reproductive health, we need more systematic evidence about fundamental process and outcome questions. Rigorous practice-based evidence [ [16] ], enabled by sustained research-practice partnerships [ [17] ], is vital for generating a knowledge base to guide the field. Here, we seek to provide further clarity in this underdeveloped research area, highlighting distinctions among youth participation approaches, and propose a research agenda moving forward.

Purpose This study examined longitudinal associations between violence involvement, substance use, and sexual activity. Methods A total of 302 urban Mexican-American and European-American adolescents were randomly selected and recruited from the membership lists of a large health maintenance organization. Data were obtained from interviews conducted when the mean ages of adolescents were 15, 18, and 19 years. Results Independent of age, gender, ethnicity, family socioeconomic status, and previous levels of health risk behavior, adolescents who had been victimized by violence at age 15 were more likely to use tobacco at age 19. Adolescents who had been victimized by or perpetrated violence at age 18 had a greater number of sexual partners and were more likely to use marijuana at age 19. In addition, adolescents who had perpetrated violence at age 18 engaged in greater alcohol use at age 19. A second set of analyses showed that independent of demographics and previous violence involvement, adolescents who had used marijuana at age 15 were more likely to report violence involvement at age 19. Adolescents who had used tobacco or who had a greater number of sexual partners at ages 15 or 18 were more likely to report violent victimization at age 19. Conclusions Associations between violence involvement and other forms of health risk behavior are bidirectional. Adolescents involved with violence are at risk for increases in substance use and sexual behavior over time. Adolescents who engage in substance use and sexual behavior with multiple partners are also at risk for later violence involvement.

To examine the co-occurrence and consistency over time of peer violence, sexual aggression, and dating violence among European American and Mexican-American adolescent boys and girls.One-hundred-twelve girls and 135 boys who were either European American or Mexican-American were recruited from a large health maintenance organization. They were interviewed by telephone at baseline (at ages 16 to 20 years) and at one-year follow-up. Variable-centered and person-centered analyses examined the co-occurrence of violent behavior across domains, and whether adolescents who engaged in violent behavior at baseline also engaged in violent behavior during the following year.Results indicated that adolescent boys who engaged in violence in one domain were more likely to engage in violence in other domains during the same time period. Results for girls were less consistent. For boys but not girls, perpetration of either sexual aggression or peer violence was a significant predictor of the same behavior at follow-up. Person-centered analyses indicated that boys who perpetrated both peer violence and sexual aggression at baseline were most likely to perpetrate later violence.These results suggest that adolescent boys who engage in peer violence are also at risk for perpetrating sexual aggression or dating violence. Boys who perpetrate peer violence and sexual aggression are at high risk for later violence. Interventions with a dual focus on peer and partner violence may be valuable.