Exploring Psychosocial Well-being and Social Connectedness in Northern Uganda
This paper describes research conducted as the first stage in the process of developing a structured interview schedule to assess psychological distress, empowerment, social connectedness, economic well-being, and other variables among women in the...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/04/19253703/exploring-psychosocial-well-being-social-connectedness-northern-uganda http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17861 |
| Summary: | This paper describes research conducted
as the first stage in the process of developing a structured
interview schedule to assess psychological distress,
empowerment, social connectedness, economic well-being, and
other variables among women in the Acholi region of Uganda.
An interview schedule was developed following a review of
the literature, individual interviews with women in northern
Uganda, and group discussions with community members,
members of women's groups, and community leaders.
Following initial testing of the entire interview schedule,
the reliability and validity of two sections-measures of
psychological distress and social connectedness, were
explored in more detail. Initial analysis suggests that both
are potentially useful with this population. However, the
measure of psychological distress did not distinguish
clearly between a group of women identified by a local
community-based organization (CBO) as showing signs of
psychological distress and a group of women showing no such
signs. Additional work is required to confirm the validity
of the psychological distress scale used. It was found that
psychological well-being was more closely associated with
the amount of social support a woman receives than with how
many social activities or groups she is involved with.
Involvement in groups may not, in itself, alleviate
psychological distress, but the practical and emotional
support provided by friends, neighbors, and relatives is
likely to have a positive effect. Some evidence was found
that there is a relationship between involvement in
religious activities and psychological well-being.
Psychological distress is often accompanied by poor physical
health. Although further research is required to clarify the
nature of these relationships, initial findings suggest that
organizations that aim to improve psychological well-being
would do well to address physical health problems as a
priority, and may wish to explore ways in which women
experiencing psychological distress could link with
religious organizations. |
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