Parenting Apps: Use and Preferences Among Parents of Children With and Without Mental Health Problems

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Technology, Media & Child Development

Abstract

In recent years, the number of commercially available smartphone applications (“apps”) has increased dramatically. Included among them are apps designed specifically to provide information and resources to parents. However, relatively little is known about the extent to which parents use apps as a resource for information on parenting and the specific app content they prefer. This study had three goals: (1) evaluating parents’ use of and attitudes toward apps as a source of parenting information, (2) exploring parents’ preferences for app content, and (3) comparing results across parents of children with and without diagnosed mental health problems. Parents who had at least one child under the age of 12 years completed an online survey (N = 418; 48% female, 52% male; M[parent age] = 36.44 years). Most parents had multiple children (M[# children] = 2.06), and half of the parents (n = 209) had children with diagnosed mental health problems. Among all parents in the sample, 25.4% reported ever using an app for parenting information. Most parents reported positive attitudes toward parenting apps (69.9%) and expressed an interest in learning more about them (74.9%). Moreover, 66% of parents anticipated using a parenting app in the future. There were no differences between parents of children with and without diagnosed mental health problems in terms of rates of parenting app use (chi-squared test = 3.27, p = .07), attitudes toward parenting apps (t(416) = 0.88, p = .39), interest in learning more about parenting apps (t(416) = 0.79, p = .43), or anticipated future use of parenting apps (t(416) = 0.17, p = .87). In identifying the most helpful app content among all parents in the sample (Figure 1), the most frequently endorsed topic areas were: physical health and development (27.3%), information on mental health (18.3%), and information on social and emotional development (17.0%). In identifying the preferred format for delivering app content among all parents in the sample (Figure 2), the most frequently endorsed formats were: written text (23%), pictures and infographics (20.5%), and video clips (20.3%). Results were similar across parents with and without children with diagnosed mental health problems in terms of preferences for delivery format. However, in terms of content, a larger portion of parents with children with mental health problems preferred information on mental health (24.6% vs. 11.7%), and a smaller portion preferred personal stories from other parents (4.4% vs. 8.6%). Although apps are a relatively new resource for parenting information, a sizable portion of parents reported using them. In addition, most parents expressed interest in learning more about these apps and anticipate using them in the future, indicating that apps may become an increasingly popular and important way for parents to get information. While minimal differences emerged across parents with and without children with diagnosed mental health problems, additional research is needed to identify the specific topics within broad content categories (e.g., information on social and emotional development) that are most helpful to individual parents.

Authors

• Sarah M Rabbitt, Oberlin College
  Presenting Author

• Jinhan Wu, Oberlin College
  Non-Presenting Author