Mobile Phones and Mental Well-Being: Initial Evidence Suggesting the Importance of Staying Connected to Family in Rural, Remote Communities in Uganda.

Mobile Phones and Mental Well-Being: Initial Evidence Suggesting the Importance of Staying Connected to Family in Rural, Remote Communities in Uganda. PLoS One. 2017;12(1):e0169819 Authors: Pearson AL, Mack E, Namanya J Abstract Due to the ubiquity of mobile phones around the globe, studies are beginning to analyze their influence on health. Prior work from developed countries highlights negative mental health outcomes related to overuse of mobile phones. However, there is little work on mental health impacts of mobile phone use or ownership in developing countries. This is an important gap to address because there are likely variations in mental health impacts of mobile phones between developing and developed countries, due to cultural nuances to phone use and distinct variations in financial models for obtaining mobile phone access in developing countries. To address this gap, this study analyzes survey data from 92 households in sparse, rural villages in Uganda to test two hypotheses about mobile phone ownership and mental health in a developing country context: (i) Mobile phone ownership is higher among more privileged groups, compared to less privileged groups (ie, wealth and ethnicity); and (ii) mobile phone ownership is positively associated with a culturally-relevant indicator of mental health, 'feelings of peace'. Results indicate that households with mobile phones had higher levels of wealth on average, yet no significant d...
Source: Rural Remote Health - Category: Rural Health Authors: Tags: PLoS One Source Type: research