Parental Technology Use and its Implications for Parent-Child Interactions and Children’s Health and Development
Date
2023-06
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Abstract
Adverse experiences (e.g., poverty, family violence, neglect in childhood) can lead to negative health and developmental consequences, yet impacts may be buffered by positive parent-child interactions. While families experiencing adversity (e.g., poverty) report barriers to attending in-person parenting programs, online parenting programs have potential to improve children’s health and development by increasing accessibility. In contrast, parental technoference (i.e., parental technology use that interrupts interactions with one’s child) can negatively affect parent-child relationships and children’s outcomes (e.g., behavior, mental health). Research is needed on digitally delivered parenting programs for families experiencing adversity and on the implications of parental technoference on parent-child relationships and children’s outcomes. The first manuscript in this dissertation is a realist review of research and theory on serve and return interactions (a metaphor utilized to convey the importance of sensitive and responsive caregiving) and a synthesis of research examining its impacts on children’s health (e.g., mental, physical) and development. The second manuscript presents findings from a randomized controlled trial evaluation of the First Pathways program with families experiencing adversity in Alberta. The First Pathways program is an online tool designed to improve parent-child interactions and children’s development by sharing brain development knowledge and activities for parents and children. Compared to the quartile of parent-child dyads who seldom accessed the website (n = 12), the quartile of parent-child dyads who accessed the website the most (n = 13) demonstrated significantly greater improvements in parent-child interaction quality. Further, daily reminders significantly increased website access. High retention (99%) was observed in the First Pathways study; thus, the third manuscript describes the effective recruitment and retention strategies employed. In the fourth manuscript, a realist review of literature on the psychometrics of digitally delivered child development tools is presented. The last manuscript is a scoping review on parental technoference and its effects on parent-child relationships, children’s health, and development. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of the positive and negative implications of parental technology use on children’s health and development and recommendations for nursing research, education, and practice.
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Keywords
digital parenting intervention, serve and return, parent-child interaction quality, child development, vulnerability, randomized controlled trial, technoference
Citation
Komanchuk, J. (2023). Parental technology use and its implications for parent-child interactions and children’s health and development (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.