Why we aim for balance and not for control.
Parents and kids’ media
- What the research says
- Across 57 studies, restrictive mediation and co-viewing each had a small but significant association with child outcomes. Active mediation, which means talking with children about media, showed no significant overall effect, but was linked to lower aggression, sexual behaviour and substance use.
- How we use it
- Parents stay involved and play alongside their kids, rather than only restricting. Parent quests make that natural.
- Limits to keep in mind
- Most studies are correlational, and the outcomes studied were media time, aggression, substance use and sexual behaviour. Effects were small.
Collier, K. M., Coyne, S. M., Rasmussen, E. E., Hawkins, A. J., Padilla-Walker, L. M., Erickson, S. E., & Memmott-Elison, M. K. (2016). Does parental mediation of media influence child outcomes? A meta-analysis on media time, aggression, substance use, and sexual behavior. Developmental Psychology, 52(5), 798–812. doi.org/10.1037/dev0000108
Screen time and well-being
- What the research says
- In data from 120,115 English adolescents, the link between screen time and well-being followed a curve. The authors concluded that moderate use is not intrinsically harmful and may be advantageous in a connected world.
- How we use it
- We do not treat screens as the enemy. We aim for balance, so screens do not crowd out creative and family time.
- Limits to keep in mind
- The data were self-reported and correlational, and about adolescents in one country. It does not show what is right for any one child.
Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (2017). A large-scale test of the Goldilocks hypothesis: Quantifying the relations between digital-screen use and the mental well-being of adolescents. Psychological Science, 28(2), 204–215. doi.org/10.1177/0956797616678438
How big is the screen effect?
- What the research says
- Across three large datasets (355,358 participants), the authors found a small negative association between digital technology use and adolescent well-being, explaining at most 0.4% of the variation in well-being.
- How we use it
- This is why we say the bigger problem is the drift between family members, not the screen itself.
- Limits to keep in mind
- It is an association, not proof of cause. Averages can hide children who are struggling, and the study covers adolescents.
Orben, A., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019). The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use. Nature Human Behaviour, 3(2), 173–182. doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0506-1
Parents’ own phones
- What the research says
- In 170 US families, parents’ problematic phone use predicted more technology-related interruptions of time with their children. Mothers’ reported interruptions were linked to higher child behaviour problems, as rated by both parents.
- How we use it
- This is the parent half of the drift. Our apps are meant to bring parents into shared activities, not add more phone time.
- Limits to keep in mind
- A small, cross-sectional study, so it shows a link and not a cause.
McDaniel, B. T., & Radesky, J. S. (2018). Technoference: Parent distraction with technology and associations with child behavior problems. Child Development, 89(1), 100–109. doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12822