JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Conflicts around the world have resulted in a record high number of refugees. Family separation is a critical factor that impacts refugee mental health. Thus, it is important to explore refugees’ ability to maintain contact with family members across the globe and the ways in which they attempt to do so. It is increasingly common for refugees to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), which include mobile phones, the internet, and social media sites like Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype, and Viber, for these purposes.

Objective:

With uses and gratification theory as a framework, this study explores refugees’ perceptions of the impact of communication through ICTs on their mental health and logistical issues that affect their access to ICTs in the United States.

Methods:

We used a constructivist grounded theory approach to analyze in-depth interviews of 290 adult refugee participants from different countries.

Results:

Analyses showed that communication through ICTs had differing impacts on the mental health of refugee participants. ICTs, as channels of communication between separated families, were a major source of emotional and mental well-being for a large number of refugee participants. However, some participants relayed that the communication process with separated family members through digital technology was mentally and emotionally difficult. Several participants noted logistical and financial barriers in communicating with their families through ICTs.

Conclusions:

These findings are important in elucidating aspects of user agency and environmental constraints in uses and gratification theory, and in providing insight for researchers and practitioners involved in efforts related to migration and mental health.