Desinformación Científica y Sanitaria en Redes Sociales y el Desarrollo Adolescente: Una Revisión Sistemática sobre Exposición, Percepciones, Respuestas Conductuales y Resultados Relacionados con la Salud

Desinformación Científica y Sanitaria en Redes Sociales y el Desarrollo Adolescente: Una Revisión Sistemática sobre Exposición, Percepciones, Respuestas Conductuales y Resultados Relacionados con la Salud

Contenido principal del artículo

Iván Claudio Suazo Galdames
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1689-1632
Meylin Santiesteban Velázquez
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5935-9313
Alain Manuel Chaple Gil
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8571-4429

Resumen

Introducción: Los adolescentes están cada vez más expuestos a desinformación científica y sanitaria a través de plataformas de redes sociales, donde el contenido amplificado algorítmicamente y cargado emocionalmente puede influir en el desarrollo psicosocial, los comportamientos de salud y los procesos de toma de decisiones. A pesar de la creciente preocupación respecto a este fenómeno, la evidencia permanece fragmentada entre distintos dominios de salud, contextos digitales y enfoques metodológicos.
Objetivo: Sintetizar y evaluar críticamente la evidencia disponible sobre la exposición, circulación, interpretación e impacto de la desinformación científica y sanitaria difundida a través de plataformas de redes sociales entre adolescentes, con énfasis en resultados psicosociales, conductuales, cognitivos, educativos y relacionados con la salud.
Métodos:
Se realizó una revisión sistemática de acuerdo con la declaración PRISMA 2020. Se efectuaron búsquedas electrónicas en PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science y Cochrane Library hasta el 10 de mayo de 2026. Se incluyeron estudios que evaluaron adolescentes expuestos a desinformación científica o sanitaria dentro de entornos digitales o de redes sociales. La calidad metodológica fue evaluada mediante las herramientas de evaluación crítica del Joanna Briggs Institute. Debido a la considerable heterogeneidad, los hallazgos fueron sintetizados narrativamente.
Resultados: Se incluyeron veintiocho estudios. Predominaron los estudios cuantitativos transversales, aunque también se identificaron investigaciones mixtas, cualitativas y experimentales. Los dominios de desinformación incluyeron principalmente desinformación científica, sanitaria, relacionada con vacunas y asociada a COVID-19. La exposición a la desinformación se asoció consistentemente con malestar psicosocial, ansiedad, miedo, desconfianza institucional, susceptibilidad a la desinformación, vacilación vacunal, conductas de salud desadaptativas y disminución de las capacidades de evaluación crítica. Los adolescentes frecuentemente dependieron de heurísticas de credibilidad mediadas socialmente en lugar de estrategias sistemáticas de verificación al evaluar información en línea. Las deficiencias en alfabetización digital, la influencia de pares, la amplificación algorítmica y el contenido emocionalmente cargado emergieron como mecanismos recurrentes que incrementaban la vulnerabilidad frente a la desinformación. Las intervenciones educativas y de alfabetización mediática demostraron efectos beneficiosos al mejorar las competencias de evaluación crítica y la resiliencia frente a la desinformación.
Conclusiones: La desinformación científica y sanitaria que circula a través de entornos de redes sociales parece ejercer efectos multidimensionales sobre el desarrollo adolescente, particularmente en los dominios psicosocial, conductual y cognitivo. El fortalecimiento de la alfabetización digital en salud, el pensamiento crítico y las intervenciones educativas basadas en evidencia podrían representar estrategias esenciales para reducir la vulnerabilidad frente a la desinformación y promover entornos digitales más saludables para los adolescentes.

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