Investigators
Mary Brushe, Amy Finlay-Jones, Gina Trapp
Project team members
Gabriella Wells, Bec Young, Jamelle Walton
Collaborators
Sally Brinkman, Edward Melhuish, Sheena Reilly, John Lynch
Funding
Channel 7 Telethon Trust
Project Partners
Ngala and the Public Health Association of Australia (WA Branch)
Project description
Screen time is an increasing challenge faced by parents across Australia. Current Australian guidelines recommend no screen time for children under the age of two, but recent evidence is suggesting many children are not meeting these recommendations. Previous research in this space has indicated that screen time may impact children’s physical health, nutrition, social and emotional development, and parent-child interactions. Recently however, there have been examples where high-quality screen time, where parents are participating in interactive co-viewing may actually lead to benefits in their child’s development.
This project, funded by the Channel 7 Telethon Trust, aims to develop and pilot an intervention that will support families of children aged 0-2 years to create healthy screen behaviours with their young child. “Healthy screen time” may look different for different families but the program aims to educate parents on potential harms, suggest alternative activities or strategies, and find ways to incorporate high quality screen time to reduce any potential harms, while acknowledging that screens are part of many families every day lives. To ensure the programs success we are partnering with both parents and early childhood professionals to undertake a series of co-design workshops to gain their valuable insights and seek feedback at each stage of the development process.
We will then be seeking 90 families from across Western Australia to participate in the online parenting program during the pilot phase. If you are a parent with a 0-2 year old and are interested in being involved in this project, please contact the research team at: screentime@telethonkids.org.au