ERIC Number: EJ1151223
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Aug
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-0343
EISSN: N/A
Improving Research Methods for the Study of Geography and Mental Health: Utilization of Social Networking Data and the ESRI GeoEvent Processor
McLaughlin, Courtney L.
School Psychology International, v38 n4 p398-407 Aug 2017
The purpose of this article is to review the literature on geography and mental health, report on a case example using new methods for studying this topic, and provide recommendations for future research. Over 25 years ago, Holley (1988) conducted a review of the literature on geography and mental health and astutely stated, "… it is surprising that geographic study designs … have not received greater attention as an important and viable method of assessing population mental health" (p. 535). In 1997, Parr echoed a similar statement, indicating that little has been researched on this topic and suggested this area be termed "geography of mental health". Decades later, these statements still hold true--researchers have given little attention to the intersection of geography and mental health. Yet, there is great potential for this research to expand in a way that may be of great benefit to those studying mental health as well as the many suffering with mental health problems. In this article, a case example is provided to demonstrate the possibilities of utilizing current technologies, Twitter and the ESRI GeoEvent Processor, to expand the methods for research on this topic.
Descriptors: Geography, Mental Health, Geographic Regions, Research Methodology, Social Media, Information Processing, Depression (Psychology), Coding, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Europe; United States; Pennsylvania; New York
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