Balancing Perspectives on Adolescent Information and Communications Technology Use in the Family Context: A Narrative Review

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) brings substantial changes to contemporary society. Despite the challenges posed by the digital era, its benefits are often unintentionally overlooked or remain unspoken in mainstream media, public trends, and among parents. Accordingly, the focus on ICT’s negative impacts overshadows the potential benefits for adolescent development. Grounded in socioecological and positive youth development frameworks, the current review identifies existing gaps and emphasizes the need to address imbalanced perspectives on adolescent ICT use within families for future research. We advocate a broader scope of research beyond negative impacts, using global, multidisciplinary, and socioecological perspectives on ICT and adolescents in family studies. Efforts are needed to help adolescents build digital competencies and media literacy, leveraging positive influences and guidance from both families and society.