November 17, 2016
From [email protected] Monthly: Hold the Phone
Medical School faculty member leads study on how smart devices complicate parenting
The addictive nature of mobile technology might not surprise anyone who has felt the constant pull of Facebook and Twitter — especially in an election year. And when there are children in the house, the smartphone-wielding adult isn't the only one who feels the effects. That became clear to researchers at C.S Mott Children’s Hospital as they conducted a new qualitative study about parental smartphone use, published this month in The Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.
In a series of in-depth interviews and group discussions, the researchers asked 35 mothers, fathers and grandparents who were caring for young children about the role of mobile devices in their homes.
Jenny Radesky, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics and the study’s primary author, hopes the work leads to more conversations between pediatricians and parents about how mobile technology is affecting families — and what we can do about it.
Read a Q&A with Radesky click below.