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Symposium V: "Smartphones in Early Childhood"
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| Presentations | |
Smartphones in Early Childhood We still know little about the effects of parental and child use of digital devices in early childhood on parents and children and the parent-child relationship. The symposium will give an overview of results from three research studies on these topics: the iKiDiM-Study, conducted at the Marie Meierhofer Institute for the Child and the Smart Start and Smart Toddlers Studies, funded by the SNSF and conducted by a research team at the Institute of Midwifery and Reproductive Health and the Section of Clinical Psychology at ZHAW Departments of Psychology and Health Sciences. The first presentation of the symposium will give an overview of quantitative data from the Smart Toddlers and Smart Start Studies, including aspects and determinants of parental smartphone use from pregnancy to 36 months and correlations between parental smartphone use and the quality of parent-child interaction. This second contribution will focus on qualitative findings from the Smart Toddlers study, examining parental smartphone use from the first year after birth to the age of three. Based on 47 in-depth interviews, it explores how parents' smartphone use and attitudes change over time, highlighting differences between mothers and fathers, and across different social, cultural and economic backgrounds. The third contribution assesses challenges of parents from lower socio-economic backgrounds regarding their young children’s media use. Understanding these challenges is a prerequisite to develop useful interventions. The study applied a thorough outreach strategy. Participants will - learn about aspects of parental smartphone use that are relevant for the quality of parent-child interaction in early childhood - understand how parental perspectives on smartphone use evolve over time, influenced by social, cultural and economic factors. - gain insight into the evolving dynamics of parental smartphone use in early childhood and its impact on family life. Presentations of the Symposium Parental Smartphone Use in Early Childhood - Results from the Smart Start and Smart Toddlers Study The goal of our two research studies Smart Start and Smart Toddlers is to understand the role and significance of parental smartphone use in early childhood, both for parents, but also regarding parental sensitivity and the quality of parent-child interactions and various aspects of child development. In our SNSF-studies Smart Start (pregnancy to 3 months, N=190) and Smart Toddlers (14-36 months, N=263) we assessed various aspects of parental smartphone use such as use time, type of use, smartphone addiction, use in the presence of the infant as well as changes in parental smartphone use over time, correlations between parental smartphone use and the quality of parent-child interaction, and various child outcomes. We also collected data on children’s use of digital media. Parents completed online surveys at 6 timepoints between pregnancy and age 36 months of their first-born child. At child-age 3 months parent-infant interaction was videotaped and assessed with the Care-Index (Crittenden, 1979), when children were 20 months old we conducted a smartphone-adapted still face experiment (Tronick et al., 1978). In addition to quantitative data, we also conducted qualitative interviews – their analysis will be presented in the contribution of Dr. Michael Gemperle. Results from the Smart Start Study will be presented regarding changes in parental smartphone use from pregnancy to 3 months after birth (Wade-Bohleber et al., 2024) and regarding parental smartphone use and the quality of parent-child interaction (von Wyl et al., in work) and regarding contributors to parental smartphone addiction in toddler age (Schneebeli et al., 2024, submitted for review) and our smartphone adapted still face paradigm (Schneebeli et al., in work). Results will be discussed with a focus on recommendations for parents of infants and young children and further research needs. Ambivalence and Adaptation: A Qualitative Analysis of Parental Smartphone Use from Postpartal Period to Toddlerhood Within the Smart Toddler Study – described in the abstract of Dr. Braune-Krickau - we conducted qualitative interviews with parents one year after the birth of their first child, and again two years later. These interviews explored the real-world significance of smartphone use in everyday parenting. In 47 in-depth interviews with mothers and fathers, we examined the evolving dynamics of smartphone use and its impact on parents over time. Initial analysis shows that parents often feel ambivalent about smartphone use, particularly in the immediate postpartum period, expressing concerns about balancing attention to their child and digital engagement. However, by the time their children reached the age of three, parents adopted a more pragmatic view, seeing smartphones increasingly as tools for managing personal and parental responsibilities, with less concern about negative effects. At the same time, there are clear differences between mothers and fathers in how they use and perceive smartphones, as well as between parents with more or less social, cultural and economic resources. These findings highlight the need for a more nuanced understanding of parental smartphone use, recognising the different ways in which parents manage their use in response to personal and social demands, the different situations of mothers and fathers, and the influence of social, cultural and economic factors on parental smartphone use and its perception. Daily Challenges Faced by Parents with Lower Socio-Economic Status Regarding Their Child's Media Usage Aims: Little is known about the readiness of parents with lower SES to change the media usage of their young children and the daily challenges they face with digital media. However, these information are important for building tailored interventions. Method: In March 2024, 107 parents with at least one young child (< 5 years old) were surveyed regarding their daily challenges with digital media. To reach individuals with lower SES, an outreach approach was implemented in family centers and pediatric practices in areas with geographically lower SES in the Zurich region. Results: The majority of respondents were female (82, 76.6%) and on average 35.3 (SD: 4.7) years old. Over three-quarters (82, 76.6%) had a migration background, and 56.6% (60) attended at most a secondary school. Participants reported on average a subjective SES of 6.1 (SD: 1.5; scale 1-10). Following daily challenges were identified: implementation of rules, unequal attitudes in the family environment, media exposure through siblings, and managing household tasks without digital media usage. SES correlated with the readiness to change regarding their own (ρ = .256, p = .012) but not the child’s media usage (𝜌 = .12, p = .23; lower vs. higher SES: 25.7% vs. 21.3%). These results remain unchanged when controlling for other factors (number of children, age of focus child, education, gender, age of parents, etc.). Discussion: The outreach approach was successful in reaching the target group. SES is not related to the readiness to change child media usage. The intervention "Kinder und Digitale Medien" (iKiDiM) of the MMI will build upon this and the relevant daily challenges. | |