Factors Impacting Mobile Health Adoption for Depression Care and Support by Adolescent Mothers in Nigeria: Preliminary Focus Group Study
BackgroundMobile health (mHealth), the use of mobile technology in health care, is increasingly being used for mental health service delivery even in low- and middle-income countries to scale up treatment, and a variety of evidence supports their potential in different popula...
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JMIR Publications
2025-04-01
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| Series: | JMIR Formative Research |
| Online Access: | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e42406 |
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| author | Lola Kola Tobi Fatodu Manasseh Kola Bisola A Olayemi Adeyinka O Adefolarin Simpa Dania Manasi Kumar Dror Ben-Zeev |
| author_facet | Lola Kola Tobi Fatodu Manasseh Kola Bisola A Olayemi Adeyinka O Adefolarin Simpa Dania Manasi Kumar Dror Ben-Zeev |
| author_sort | Lola Kola |
| collection | DOAJ |
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BackgroundMobile health (mHealth), the use of mobile technology in health care, is increasingly being used for mental health service delivery even in low- and middle-income countries to scale up treatment, and a variety of evidence supports their potential in different populations.
ObjectiveThis study aims to use the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a lens to explain knowledge of mHealth use for mental health care, personal behavioral capabilities, and the external social contexts that can impact the adoption of an mHealth app for depression care among perinatal adolescents in Nigeria.
MethodsAt the preliminary stage of a user-centered design (UCD), 4 focus group discussions were conducted among 39 participants: 19 perinatal adolescents with a history of depression and 20 primary care providers. Guided by the SCT, a popular model used for predicting and explaining health behaviors, we documented participants’ knowledge of mHealth use for health purposes, advantages, and challenges to the adoption of an mHealth app by young mothers, and approaches to mitigate challenges. Data collection and analysis was an iterative process until saturation of all topic areas was reached.
ResultsThe mean age for young mothers was 17.3 (SD 0.9) years and 48 (SD 5.8) years for care providers. Mistrust from relatives on mobile phone use for therapeutic purposes, avoidance of clinic appointments, and sharing of application contents with friends were some challenges to adoption identified in the study population. Supportive personal factors and expressions of self-efficacy on mobile app use were found to be insufficient for adoption. This is because there are social complications and disapprovals that come along with getting pregnant at a young age. Adequate engagement of parents, guardians, and partners on mHealth solutions by care providers was identified as necessary to the uptake of digital tools for mental health care in this population.
ConclusionsThe SCT guided the interpretations of the study findings. Young mothers expressed excitement at the use of mHealth technology to manage perinatal depression. Real-life challenges, however, need to be attended to for successful implementation of such interventions. Communications between care providers and patients’ relatives on the therapeutic use of mHealth are vital to the success of a mHealth mental health management plan for depression in young mothers in Nigeria. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3e33581f78c24498b1423835ea73dabb |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2561-326X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
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| series | JMIR Formative Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-3e33581f78c24498b1423835ea73dabb2025-08-20T03:06:01ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2025-04-019e4240610.2196/42406Factors Impacting Mobile Health Adoption for Depression Care and Support by Adolescent Mothers in Nigeria: Preliminary Focus Group StudyLola Kolahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0678-796XTobi Fatoduhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9570-7556Manasseh Kolahttps://orcid.org/0009-0002-9346-5503Bisola A Olayemihttps://orcid.org/0009-0006-9662-0301Adeyinka O Adefolarinhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7238-2413Simpa Daniahttps://orcid.org/0009-0006-8085-2589Manasi Kumarhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9773-8014Dror Ben-Zeevhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6597-2407 BackgroundMobile health (mHealth), the use of mobile technology in health care, is increasingly being used for mental health service delivery even in low- and middle-income countries to scale up treatment, and a variety of evidence supports their potential in different populations. ObjectiveThis study aims to use the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a lens to explain knowledge of mHealth use for mental health care, personal behavioral capabilities, and the external social contexts that can impact the adoption of an mHealth app for depression care among perinatal adolescents in Nigeria. MethodsAt the preliminary stage of a user-centered design (UCD), 4 focus group discussions were conducted among 39 participants: 19 perinatal adolescents with a history of depression and 20 primary care providers. Guided by the SCT, a popular model used for predicting and explaining health behaviors, we documented participants’ knowledge of mHealth use for health purposes, advantages, and challenges to the adoption of an mHealth app by young mothers, and approaches to mitigate challenges. Data collection and analysis was an iterative process until saturation of all topic areas was reached. ResultsThe mean age for young mothers was 17.3 (SD 0.9) years and 48 (SD 5.8) years for care providers. Mistrust from relatives on mobile phone use for therapeutic purposes, avoidance of clinic appointments, and sharing of application contents with friends were some challenges to adoption identified in the study population. Supportive personal factors and expressions of self-efficacy on mobile app use were found to be insufficient for adoption. This is because there are social complications and disapprovals that come along with getting pregnant at a young age. Adequate engagement of parents, guardians, and partners on mHealth solutions by care providers was identified as necessary to the uptake of digital tools for mental health care in this population. ConclusionsThe SCT guided the interpretations of the study findings. Young mothers expressed excitement at the use of mHealth technology to manage perinatal depression. Real-life challenges, however, need to be attended to for successful implementation of such interventions. Communications between care providers and patients’ relatives on the therapeutic use of mHealth are vital to the success of a mHealth mental health management plan for depression in young mothers in Nigeria.https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e42406 |
| spellingShingle | Lola Kola Tobi Fatodu Manasseh Kola Bisola A Olayemi Adeyinka O Adefolarin Simpa Dania Manasi Kumar Dror Ben-Zeev Factors Impacting Mobile Health Adoption for Depression Care and Support by Adolescent Mothers in Nigeria: Preliminary Focus Group Study JMIR Formative Research |
| title | Factors Impacting Mobile Health Adoption for Depression Care and Support by Adolescent Mothers in Nigeria: Preliminary Focus Group Study |
| title_full | Factors Impacting Mobile Health Adoption for Depression Care and Support by Adolescent Mothers in Nigeria: Preliminary Focus Group Study |
| title_fullStr | Factors Impacting Mobile Health Adoption for Depression Care and Support by Adolescent Mothers in Nigeria: Preliminary Focus Group Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Factors Impacting Mobile Health Adoption for Depression Care and Support by Adolescent Mothers in Nigeria: Preliminary Focus Group Study |
| title_short | Factors Impacting Mobile Health Adoption for Depression Care and Support by Adolescent Mothers in Nigeria: Preliminary Focus Group Study |
| title_sort | factors impacting mobile health adoption for depression care and support by adolescent mothers in nigeria preliminary focus group study |
| url | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e42406 |
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