Third, the review criteria may have resulted in the inclusion of studies that may not initially seem like new digital media. For example, we included a mobile phone-based intervention in which the phone was used for calling rather than for a textmessage-based intervention. This particular study was included after much consideration by the research team, as we felt that emphasis on distributed mobile phones met our inclusion criteria, although one can argue that a call on a mobile phone is not user controlled or shareable. Fourth, we may have missed interventions in our research. We reviewed eight databases, the reference sections of all included articles, and studies from all over the world. Nevertheless, we limited our search to the Englishlanguage peer-reviewed literature and set a specific cutoff date. As such, some studies that would have met the criteria for inclusion in this review were not included owing to the timing of preparing and publishing this manuscript.
New digital media for sexual health promotion is an emerging field. The rapid evolution of technology presents challenges for rigorous research studies of technology-based sexual health interventions for youth. The time spent in writing proposals, conducting
trials, and disseminating results cannot stay apace of technological innovation. However, there are opportunities within this research to begin to understand the potential of
tailored intervention components, the replicability and scalability of new digital media interventions, and the effectiveness of particular approaches based on delivery method, duration, and other variables. Some studies in our review also suggest how
behavioral theories may inform new digital media interventions. Future research should consider the aspects of existing theories that are best suited for technology-based interventions, and whether new theories that address the unique affordances of
new digital media (e.g., tailored interventions, peer-shared interventions) are needed. Lessons will also come from the increased use of digital media in other fields of medicine and health promotion. Ultimately, our review demonstrates that new digital
media have tremendous potential to engage and support the sexual health of youth. Much like digital products themselves,the literature describing and evaluating new digital media will benefit from the processes of rapid dissemination and continuous updates.