Does involving another person in day-to-day activity-travel participation affect social and mental health?

Introduction

This study investigates the effects of different types of social networks within different activities on an individual’s social and mental health in developing countries since the effects of involving other people or social networks on health have been studied particularly in developing countries.

Methods

The data was collected through a survey conducted from August to October 2019. The survey involved 420 individuals from 92 households, covering inputs on their socio-demographics, travel characteristics, time use, and activity diaries and the involvement of various social network types during the activities, travels performed, and Health Quality of Life. Multilevel modelling with a random slope is applied. For time-use and activity-travel participation information, respondents were asked to record their activities and travel within 15-min intervals for 5 consecutive weekdays with 25 activity classifications grouped as mandatory, leisure, and maintenance activities including online activities that could be conducted in or outside the home. It is also recorded whether other people are involved in each time slice of each activity. Companionship within different activities is then disaggregated into different types of social networks, namely other household members, relatives, close friends, and online friends.

Result

Engaging with other people is not necessary to gain positive results on social and mental health. Within different types of activities and different contexts, such as in developing countries that have higher percentages of low-income households, much time spent in engagements with other household members can worsen social and mental health.

Conclusion

In developing country contexts, better social health might be indicated by having more engagements with other people beyond household members and spending more time on travelling or out-of-home activities. However, more disposable income, more time for socialising and leisure activities, and more engagements with close and online friends all seem to be able to gain positive mental health conditions.