Self-care challenges in adolescents: a comprehensive literature review

Abstract

Background Adolescence is the period of accepting self-care responsibility. Many severe diseases that cause early mortality are rooted in adolescence. Hence, adolescence is the definitive time for preventive interventions such as self-care behaviors. In addition to the benefits of self-care behaviors, evidence shows that adolescents face barriers in performing self-care behaviors. Objective The aim of the current study to review the self-care challenges for adolescents. Methods Databases such as Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Web of Science, Scientific Information Database and Scopus were searched to extract papers published from 1994 to 2016 based on the inclusion criterion. The inclusion criterion was English language papers from famous authors on self-care behaviors in adolescents. Results The results of the current study showed that adolescents face cultural (two subcategories, beliefs and convictions, knowledge), socio-economic (five subcategories, family, healthcare providers, peers, social support, economic status) and personal (three subcategories, mental health, gender, ethnicity) challenges. Conclusions Self-care behaviors in adolescents are influenced by biological, psychological, economic and social factors. As this is a multifactorial process, people who deal with adolescents should have enough knowledge regarding adolescent health status and also learn how to perceive the role of culture in self-care behaviors of the adolescents.

Keywords: adolescents; narrative review; self-care.