*3.2. Characteristics of Scientific Productions from 1978 to 2018*

Figure 4 shows the frequency of academic publications focused on social networks, health, and young people, over the last four decades. The figure suggests an upward trend, implying that the number of annual outputs increased markedly from around 2002 to 2018.

**Figure 4.** The trend of publications in social networks, health, and young people during the period of 1978–2018.

Based on this figure, the main observation is a rapid increase from the early 2000s, which coincides with the emergence of online social media and research exploring the interaction between social media and health.

These results are consistent with previous analyses showing increased research attention given to social networks related to the health field [34]. This interest highlighted the possibility of using these networks as tools, but also their negative effects on health [46]. Additionally, it is important to highlight that the increase of publications also affects other topics in the health field. In this sense, Kyvik S (2003) highlighted how the number of publications per researcher was higher in technology and the natural and medical sciences in 1998–2000. Additionally, this same author stated that the tendency for publication in such areas increased in the late 1990s [47].
