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Ilyas Y, Hassanbeigi Daryani S, Kiriella D, Pachwicewicz P, Boley RA, Reyes KM, Smith DL, Zalta AK, Schueller SM, Karnik NS, Stiles-Shields C
Geolocation Patterns, Wi-Fi Connectivity Rates, and Psychiatric Symptoms Among Urban Homeless Youth: Mixed Methods Study Using Self-report and Smartphone Data
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Geolocation, Wi-Fi Connectivity and Psychiatric Symptoms among Urban Youth Experiencing Homelessness: An Analysis of Self-Report and Passive Data Collected from Smartphones
Yousaf Ilyas;
Shahrzad Hassanbeigi Daryani;
Dona Kiriella;
Paul Pachwicewicz;
Randy A. Boley;
Karen M. Reyes;
Dale L. Smith;
Alyson K. Zalta;
Stephen M. Schueller;
Niranjan S. Karnik;
Colleen Stiles-Shields
ABSTRACT
Background:
Despite significant research done with youth experiencing homelessness (YEH), few studies have examined movement patterns and digital habits in this population. Examining these digital behaviors may provide useful data to design new intervention models for YEH.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to explore patterns of mobile phone Wi-Fi usage and GPS location movement among YEH. Additionally, we further examined the relationship between usage and location as correlated with mental health symptoms.
Methods:
A total of 35 adolescent and young adult participants were recruited from the general community of YEH in a mobile intervention study that included installing a sensor data acquisition app (Purple Robot) for up to six months. Of these participants, 19 had sufficient data to conduct analyses. At baseline, participants completed self-reported measures for depression (PHQ-9) and PTSD (PCL-5). Behavioral features were developed and extracted from phone location and usage data.
Results:
Almost all participants (95%) used private networks for most of their non-cellular connectivity. Greater Wi-Fi usage was associated with higher PCL-5 score (P = 0.006). Location entropy was also found to be associated with both PCL-5 (P = 007) and PHQ-9 (P = .045) scores.
Conclusions:
Location and Wi-Fi usage both demonstrated associations with PTSD symptoms while only location was associated with depression symptom severity. While further research needs to be done establish the consistency of these findings, they suggest that the digital patterns of YEH offer insights that could be used to tailor digital interventions.
Citation
Please cite as:
Ilyas Y, Hassanbeigi Daryani S, Kiriella D, Pachwicewicz P, Boley RA, Reyes KM, Smith DL, Zalta AK, Schueller SM, Karnik NS, Stiles-Shields C
Geolocation Patterns, Wi-Fi Connectivity Rates, and Psychiatric Symptoms Among Urban Homeless Youth: Mixed Methods Study Using Self-report and Smartphone Data