Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34726609›Full record

ArticleJMIR formative research2021

Understanding the Social Determinants of Mental Health of Undergraduate Students in Bangladesh: Interview Study.

Ananya Bhattacharjee, S M Taiabul Haque, Md Abdul Hady, S M Raihanul Alam, Mashfiqui Rabbi, Muhammad Ashad Kabir, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR formative research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Investigating the Role of Situational Disruptors in Engagement with Digital Mental Health Tools.CSCW : proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work · 2025
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  7. Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.

Ananya BhattacharjeeDepartment of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9116-3766
S M Taiabul HaqueSchool of Computer Science and Mathematics, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6740-4216
Md Abdul HadyDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, Eastern University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5563-9157
S M Raihanul AlamDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1102-8258
Mashfiqui RabbiDepartment of Statistics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4928-553X
Muhammad Ashad KabirSchool of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering, Charles Sturt University, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6798-6535
Syed Ishtiaque AhmedDepartment of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2452-0687
University of Toronto · CABangladesh University of Engineering and Technology · BDCharles Sturt University · AUEastern University · BDHarvard University · USUniversity of Central Missouri · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe undergraduate student population has been actively studied in digital mental health research. However, the existing literature primarily focuses on students from high-income nations, and undergraduates from limited-income nations remain understudied.

objectiveThis study aims to identify the broader social determinants of mental health among undergraduate students in Bangladesh, a limited-income nation in South Asia; study the manifestation of these determinants in their day-to-day lives; and explore the feasibility of self-monitoring tools in helping them identify the specific factors or relationships that affect their mental health.

methodsWe conducted a 21-day study with 38 undergraduate students from 7 universities in Bangladesh. We conducted 2 semistructured interviews: one prestudy and one poststudy. During the 21-day study, participants used an Android app to self-report and self-monitor their mood after each phone conversation. The app prompted participants to report their mood after each phone conversation and provided graphs and charts so that the participants could independently review their mood and conversation patterns.

resultsOur results show that academics, family, job and economic condition, romantic relationship, and religion are the major social determinants of mental health among undergraduate students in Bangladesh. Our app helped the participants pinpoint the specific issues related to these factors, as the participants could review the pattern of their moods and emotions from past conversation history. Although our app does not provide any explicit recommendation, the participants took certain steps on their own to improve their mental health (eg, reduced the frequency of communication with certain persons).

conclusionsAlthough some of the factors (eg, academics) were reported in previous studies conducted in the Global North, this paper sheds light on some new issues (eg, extended family problems and religion) that are specific to the context of the Global South. Overall, the findings from this study would provide better insights for researchers to design better solutions to help the younger population from this part of the world.

Indexed as

Bangladeshglobal southmobile phonereligionsocial determinantstudentsundergraduatewomen

Identifiers

PMID34726609
PMCPMC8596284
OpenAlexW3187577059

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.