The Socioeconomic Indicators Linked to Parent Health-Related Technology Use: Cross-sectional Survey

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Parenting Research
• Health Equity

Background:

• Parental health information seeking online is prevalent but under-researched for young children (3-8 years).
• Understanding how socioeconomic factors and the digital divide impact parental health information seeking is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore parental health-related technology use (HTU) for self and child health information seeking.
• To examine the range of devices and digital sources parents utilize for health information.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 313 parents of children aged 3-8 years recruited via Amazon MTurk.
• Self-administered questionnaire assessing sociodemographics, technology ownership, and HTU patterns and perceptions.
• Descriptive and bivariate analyses to identify associations between socioeconomic indicators and HTU.

Main Results:

• 96% of parents engaged in HTU, primarily using search engines (99%), social media (62%), and digital media (48%).
• Parents sought information on child behavior (83%), health (58%), academics (45%), and stress management (43%).
• Search engines were highly valued; technology sources were perceived as comfortable, understanding, and influential by a subset of parents, with socioeconomic status showing differential associations with HTU.

Conclusions:

• Findings highlight the need for tailored digital health resources for parents, especially those in underserved communities.
• Digital interventions should consider socioeconomic disparities to ensure equitable access and impact.