It is now widely recognised that the early years of a child’s life represent a unique opportunity in the life cycle for brain development. The first three years of life mark the fastest growth in brain development for humans and as such is a crucial time for social, emotional and cognitive development. Parents are central to their child’s development as a warm responsive caregiver facilitates an infant’s sense of safety and builds good infant mental health. Decades of research have found that interferences to building a secure attachment such as parental mental health problems, domestic violence, substance misuse, neglect and experience of trauma can disrupt infant brain development and lead to long term health and emotional problems.
More recently, technology has introduced a new dimension to childhood and family life. As research has not kept pace with the rapid growth of infants’ use of digital technology, the implications of infants’ interactions with technology on cognitive, social and emotional development are largely unknown. This lack of empirical evidence makes it difficult for parents to have a clear understanding of the benefits and risks digital technology may pose at this stage of development. As digital technology has become embedded in all aspects of society, it is essential to gain a better understanding of the nature and extent that digital technology is used every day at home and how this may influence interactions between parents and infants.
The aim of the Connections: Parenting Infants in a Digital World project was to provide greater insight into how digital technology may influence interactions between parents and infants aged 0 – 3 years old at home. The study considers the relatively new phenomenon of ‘technoference’ by exploring the extent to which parental use of digital technology in the home may interfere with activities or time spent with infants. Specifically the main objectives of the research were to:
- Gain an understanding of parents’ and infants’ use of digital technology in everyday home life and how this may impact on parent-infant interactions;
- Explore parents’ awareness of infant mental health with specific reference to the ‘Five to Thrive’ approach and the parenting styles used with infants;
- Identify the areas parents of infants could benefit from additional support in order to improve service delivery
