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MHealth: Potentials and Risks for Addressing Mental Health and Well-Being Issues Among Nepali Adolescents.

ABSTRACT: Adolescents are slowly being recognized as a generation, worldwide, that may require different policy approaches to improve staggering statistics on their failing well-being, including mental health. By providing the support to allow the next generation to achieve better mental health outcomes, they are going to be more economically successful and the future economic growth of nations can be better assured. Adoption of mobile-based health interventions (e.g., mHealth) has garnered a lot of attention toward this end. While mHealth interventions are growing in popularity, many researchers/policy-makers appear to have neglected assessing potential (indirect) costs/negative consequences from their use. Evidence from the developed world shows strong associations between extensive cell phone use and negative mental health outcomes, but similar research is minimal in developing world contexts. Additionally, the bulk of work on the outcomes of mobile phone use is studied using a unidirectional approach with blinders to front-end motivations. Using primary data from a large-scale, school-based survey of older adolescents in southwestern Nepal (N = 539), this work investigates such a tension between mobile/smartphone usage as a true mobile health (mHealth) opportunity in Nepal or as a potential problem, introducing additional deleterious well-being effects from over-use. Founded in Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT), robust results of analyses using full structural modeling approaches (and traditional regression-based sensitivity analyses) indicate support for the BPNT framework in explaining statistically significant positive associations between bullying and anxiety, as well as, negative associations between bullying and grit, including evidence to support the mediating role of problematic mobile phone use in these relationships. More than 56% of the sample showed indicators of mild to moderate anxiety and over 10% claim experiences of bullying, coupled with over 75% of the sample scoring above the midline of a problematic mobile phone use scale, all of which motivates the relevance of our findings. Potential policy implications of these findings, and mention of other intriguing avenues for future work are further discussed.

SUBMITTER: Yilmaz SK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8102693 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Introduction: Social media has become an integrated part of daily life, with an estimated 3 billion social media users worldwide. Adolescents and young adults are the most active users of social media. Research on social media has grown rapidly, with the potential association of social media use and mental health and well-being becoming a polarized and much-studied subject. The current body of knowledge on this theme is complex and difficult-to-follow. The current paper presents a scoping review of the published literature in the research field of social media use and its association with mental health and well-being among adolescents. Methods and Analysis: First, relevant databases were searched for eligible studies with a vast range of relevant search terms for social media use and mental health and well-being over the past five years. Identified studies were screened thoroughly and included or excluded based on prior established criteria. Data from the included studies were extracted and summarized according to the previously published study protocol. Results: Among the 79 studies that met our inclusion criteria, the vast majority (94%) were quantitative, with a cross-sectional design (57%) being the most common study design. Several studies focused on different aspects of mental health, with depression (29%) being the most studied aspect. Almost half of the included studies focused on use of non-specified social network sites (43%). Of specified social media, Facebook (39%) was the most studied social network site. The most used approach to measuring social media use was frequency and duration (56%). Participants of both genders were included in most studies (92%) but seldom examined as an explanatory variable. 77% of the included studies had social media use as the independent variable. Conclusion: The findings from the current scoping review revealed that about 3/4 of the included studies focused on social media and some aspect of pathology. Focus on the potential association between social media use and positive outcomes seems to be rarer in the current literature. Amongst the included studies, few separated between different forms of (inter)actions on social media, which are likely to be differentially associated with mental health and well-being outcomes.

Project description:AimsThis study aims to investigate the association between dietary behaviours, overweight/obesity, and mental health and well-being among Swedish adolescents.MethodsData from the 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey of 3692 adolescents aged ≈11, ≈13, and ≈15 years was analysed. We evaluated the prevalence and association of dietary behaviours, characterised by daily intake of fruits and vegetables, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and sweets once per week, and daily consumption of family meals and breakfast, with socioeconomic and demographic factors. Multivariate logistic regression models (adjusted and unadjusted) were then used to examine the relationship between dietary behaviours, overweight/obesity, and mental health and well-being including psychosomatic complaints, life satisfaction, and school-related pressure.ResultsBoys were more likely to eat breakfast and have meals together with their family than girls, but their fruit and vegetable intake was lower compared to girls. Adolescents with lower socioeconomic status (low family affluence, families perceived 'not well-off' and two unemployed parents), single-parent households and twoforeign born parents were more likely to engage in poorer dietary behaviours. Daily breakfast, family meals, fruit and vegetable intake were positively associated with mental health and well-being. Specifically, daily family meals were linked to higher life satisfaction, fewer psychosomatic complaints, and reduced school-related pressure. Breakfast emerged as a beneficial dietary habit, associated with higher life satisfaction, and a lower likelihood of psychosomatic complaints, school-related pressure, and overweight/obesity. Fruit and vegetable consumption was consistently associated with better mental health and well-being while associations between SSBs and sweets were mixed.ConclusionsImproving mental health and well-being, along with tackling the rising rates of mental illness and challenges related to overweight/obesity in adolescents constitute key public health priorities. Implementing policies that promote the intake of fruits and vegetables, reducing the consumption of SSBs and sweets, and emphasizing the value of having breakfast and sharing family meals could offer a cost-effective public health intervention.

Project description:BackgroundOne important aspect of subjective judgments about one's well-being (i.e., subjective well-being: life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) is that cultural features, such as, nationality seem to shape cognitive judgments about the "the ideal life." In this comparative study we examined differences in subjective well-being and psychological well-being between Italian and Swedish adolescents and tested if the relationship between the three constructs of subjective well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life, positive affect, and negative affect) and psychological well-being was moderated by the adolescents' nationality.MethodItalian (n = 255) and Swedish (n = 277) adolescents answered to the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule, and Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being. Differences between samples were tested using a Multiple Analysis of Variance. We also conducted a multiple group analysis (Italy and Sweden) using Structural Equation Modelling to investigate the relationship between all three subjective well-being constructs and psychological well-being.ResultsItalian adolescents scored significantly higher in satisfaction with life than Swedish adolescents. Additionally, across countries, girls scored significantly higher in negative affect than boys. In both countries, all three constructs of subjective well-being were significantly associated to adolescents' psychological well-being. Nevertheless, while the effect of the relationship between affect and psychological well-being was almost the same across countries, life satisfaction was more strongly related to psychological well-being among Swedish adolescents.ConclusionsThe present study shows that there are larger variations between these two cultures in the cognitive construct of subjective well-being than in the affective construct. Accordingly, associations between the cognitive component, not the affective component, of subjective well-being and psychological well-being differ between countries as well.

Project description:BackgroundGiven the growing number of adolescents exhibiting problematic internet use (PIU) and experiencing its harmful consequences, it is important to examine the factors associated with PIU. Existing research has identified perceived parental supportiveness and adolescents' subjective mental well-being as strong predictors of PIU. However, it is unknown how these factors work together in shaping adolescents' engagement in PIU.ObjectiveThis paper aimed to examine the role played by adolescents' perception of parental supportiveness in conjunction with their subjective mental well-being in shaping their PIU.MethodsThe study analyzed one of the Technology & Adolescent Mental Wellness (TAM) data sets that were collected from a nationally representative cross-sectional sample. Adolescents self-reported their internet use behavior, perceived parental supportiveness, and subjective mental well-being through an online research panel survey. Hierarchical linear regression analysis with an interaction term was performed.ResultsA total of 4592 adolescents, aged 12 to 17 years, completed the survey. Adolescents reported a mean age of 14.61 (SD 1.68) and were 46.4% (2130/4592) female and 66.9% (3370/4592) White. Findings revealed that, controlling for adolescents' demographics and social media use, higher levels of perceived parental supportiveness (β=-.285, P<.001) and higher levels of subjective mental well-being (β=-.079, P<.001) were associated with a lower likelihood of adolescent PIU. The moderation analysis showed that the negative association between perceived parental supportiveness and PIU was stronger when adolescents reported high (vs low) levels of mental well-being (β=-.191, P<.001).ConclusionsThis study shows that perceived parental supportiveness was a stronger protective factor than adolescents' mental well-being against PIU. The protective power of perceived parental supportiveness against PIU was strongest when adolescents had high mental well-being. The highest risk of PIU occurred when adolescents' mental well-being was high, but parents were perceived as unsupportive. Our findings suggest that parental supportiveness should be targeted as part of PIU prevention efforts.

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MHealth: Potentials and Risks for Addressing Mental Health and Well-Being Issues Among Nepali Adolescents.

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