Resource Roundup #4

Resources for Promoting Effective Smartphone Use and Digital Wellness

Author

Lisa Golds
November 28, 2025

Welcome to Let’s Connect: A newsletter from Dr Lisa Golds, Innovation Fellow at The University of Edinburgh. Bringing family-facing professionals a roundup of the most up-to-date information about effective parental smartphone use, positive device habits, and digital wellness!

Smartphone use can be a sensitive topic and a growing number of stories have recently been seen across the media discussing both the benefits and drawbacks of our relationship with our phones, and with device use in general. Whatever your opinion on smartphone use, one thing we know is these devices are here to stay! As smartphones become more necessary to our everyday lives, empowering people to engage with healthy device use habits and digital wellness is critical. Parents, and especially new parents, are often reliant on their phones for accessing information, support, and every now and then, a chance to recharge. As an Innovation Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, my research focuses on empowering parents to foster positive device habits for themselves and their young children. 

This newsletter features a brief roundup of international research from Europe and New Zealand. You can find a link to a useful intro to the term “Technoference”, and a new podcast about digital parenting by researchers from Bath Spa University and the University of Oxford.

If you would like to contact me for a chat, or to share any resources in the next newsletter - please do get in touch!

✉️ Email: [email protected]

“I Haven’t Had Anyone Talk to Me About Phone Use, At All”: Primiparous Mothers’ Conversations About Smartphone Use While Caregiving”

New mothers often rely on their smartphones, but frequent or unconscious use may affect their wellbeing and their baby’s early bonding.

This study interviewed first-time mothers in Aotearoa/New Zealand to see whether health professionals talk to them about this. Most said the topic was rarely, if ever, raised.

The researchers suggest this silence is a missed chance to help parents reflect on their phone habits and support healthy early relationships with their infants.

This article is open access

The influence of difficult child temperament and parenting stress on parental problematic smartphone use in early childhood: a moderated mediation analysis

This study explored why some parents struggle with problematic smartphone use.

Using data from 261 mothers and fathers of 14-month-olds, researchers found that parents who saw their toddlers as having more difficult temperaments experienced higher parenting stress, and this stress, in turn, led to greater problematic phone use. The link was the same for mothers and fathers.

The findings suggest that managing parents’ stress may be key to reducing unhealthy smartphone habits and supporting the wellbeing of both parents and young children.

This article is open access

There is a wealth of information around effective smartphone use - almost to the point of overwhelm! In this newsletter, I aim to bring you a catalogue of useful resources, including podcasts and webinars specifically informing parents about the benefits of digital wellness, for both themselves and their babies.

This primer from the Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, answers a common question;

What is Technoference?

This 3-minute read aims to briefly answer the questions, what is technoference; how does it impact children and caregivers; and what can parents do.

Screen Sense: Parenting in a Digital World is a recently released podcast series from Prof Pete Etchells (Bath Spa University) and Prof Andrew Przybylski (University of Oxford)

Advertised as “a podcast for parents trying to make thoughtful, informed decisions about tech and childhood”, the podcast features informal chats between Pete and Andy - two digital researchers who are also parents themselves.

Do you have an event or research project you would like to share?

Get in touch [email protected] and I can help to advertise your event / research with professionals working with families, parents, and infants.

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