Recent Articles
This Research Letter describes the increasing trend of almost constant social media use among California adolescents aged 12-17 between 2019-2021 and an examination of the association between social media use with serious psychological distress. Using multivariate logistic regression models, this study finds a positive association between almost constant social media use and serious psychological distress, controlling for demographics, family connection, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). While acknowledging the cross-sectional nature of the data as a limitation, the findings add to the growing literature on the possible implications of growing social media use on mental health and underscore the importance of considering familial and experiential factors in examining mental health implications of pervasive social media use among adolescents.
Entertainment media content is often mentioned as one of the roots of children’s unhealthy food consumption. This might be due to the high amount of presented unhealthy foods in children’s media environment. However, less is known about the role of food placement centrality, that is, whether foods are interacted with it, consumed, verbally mentioned, or appear unobtrusively. We also lack longitudinal research measuring both, children’s unhealthy and healthy food consumption behaviors as outcomes.
The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the home lives of many families in the United States, especially those with young children. Understanding the relationship between child and parent screen time and family stressors exacerbated by the pandemic may help inform interventions that aim to support early child development.
Concussion is a common adolescent injury that can result in a constellation of symptoms, negatively affecting academic performance, neurobiological development, and quality of life. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies, such as apps for patients to report symptoms or wearables to measure physiological metrics like heart rate, have been shown to be promising in health maintenance. However, there is limited evidence about mHealth engagement in adolescents with concussion during their recovery course.
Internet addiction is an emerging mental health issue in this digital age. Nowadays, children start using the internet in early childhood, thus making them vulnerable to addictive use. Previous studies have reported that the risk of internet addiction tends to be higher in lower-income regions with lower quality of life, such as Indonesia. Indonesia has high risks and prevalence of internet addiction, including in children. Digital interventions have been developed as an option to combat internet addiction in children. However, little is known about what parents and therapists in Indonesia perceive about these types of interventions.
Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) remains a leading cause of infant mortality; therefore, understanding parental practices of infant sleep at home is essential. Since social media analyses yield invaluable patient perspectives, understanding sleep practices in the context of safe sleep recommendations via a Facebook mother’s group is instrumental for policy makers, healthcare providers, and researchers.
Recently, digital media, including Internet websites and smartphone applications (apps), have become popular resources for parents to search for child healthcare information. Higher health literacy of parents in obtaining adequate healthcare information and making proper decisions may lead to improved child health outcomes and a reduction in the burden on healthcare providers. However, few studies have examined the association between the provision of healthcare information apps for infants and parents’ health literacy.
Digital interventions are increasingly popular for the provision of nonpharmacological pain interventions, but few exist for adolescents with menstrual pain. User-centered design involves incorporating users across phases of digital health intervention design, development, and implementation and leads to improved user engagement and outcomes. A needs assessment is the first step of this approach.
Premature birth rates have slightly increased globally, making its prevention critical for both short-term and long-term health outcomes. Various interventions have been developed in response to the multifaceted risk factors for premature birth, including internet-based programs. These programs offer accessibility and enhanced engagement; however, their overall efficacy in preventing premature births requires thorough evaluation.
After the implementation of 2- and 3-child policies, the rising proportion of high-age and high-risk pregnancies put enormous pressure on maternal and child health (MCH) services for China. This populous nation with an increasing population flow imperatively required the support of large-scale information systems for management. Municipal MCH information systems were commonly applied in developed cities of eastern provinces in China. However, implementation of provincial MCH information systems in relatively low-income areas is lacking. In 2020, the implementation of a regional maternal and child information system (RMCIS) in Inner Mongolia filled this gap.
