Children’s social connections, internet usage and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Global South: evidence from Disrupting Harm

Objective:To investigate the cross-sectional associations of digital technology use with mental health indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic in 12 countries in the Global South.Methods:We used data from the UNICEF Innocenti Disrupting Harm survey of 11,912 children aged 12–17 in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. We modelled the associations of social connection and internet use during lockdown with six different indicators of wellbeing in each country and in the overall sample using robust linear and logistic regression. We controlled for a range of putative socioeconomic and demographic confounders and handled missing data using multiple imputation.Findings:We did not find clear evidence for any general associations of social connection or internet use with mental health indicators during lockdown across countries. Rather, our results are complex and demonstrate that the relationship depends heavily on an individual’s context; not just on the country they are living in but also on their sex, urbanicity and other factors. Nonetheless, our results highlight key focus areas for further research.Conclusion:Extensive further research is needed to identify ways in which technology use, including internet use, might act as a risk or protective factor relevant to mental ill health among young people in the countries of the Global South.