Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Jul 26, 2019
Date Accepted: Sep 2, 2019
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
“Sometimes you just need to see a ray of sunshine” – Development of MyTeen text messaging programme to support parents of adolescent: parents’ perspectives.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Parents play an important role in the lives of adolescents and supporting and addressing the needs of families continues to be the focus of many researchers and policy makers. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions have great potential for supporting parents at a population level because of their broad reach and convenience. However, limited evidence exists for such interventions for parents of adolescents. This paper reports on the formative work conducted with parents/primary caregivers to identify their needs and preferences for the development of MyTeen text messaging programme for parents of adoleThe aim of this qualitative study was to explore parents/primary caregivers’ perspectives around youth wellbeing, parenting, parenting support, and their input on the development of MyTeen text messaging parenting intervention.scents (10-15 years of age).
Objective:
The aim of this qualitative study was to explore parents/primary caregivers’ perspectives around youth wellbeing, parenting, parenting support, and their input on the development of MyTeen text messaging parenting intervention.
Methods:
Five focus groups (n=45) were conducted with parents or primary caregivers of adolescents aged 10-15 years between October to December 2017 in New Zealand. A semi-structured interview guideline and prompts were used. Data were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Results:
Participants were concerned about youth mental health (i.e., stigma and increasing demand on adolescents), and a number of parenting challenges (i.e., social expectations, time, impact of technology, changes in family communication pattern, and recognising and talking about mental health issues) were noted. Importantly, participants reported the lack of services and support available for families and were not aware of services for parents themselves. A number of recommendations were given on the style, content and frequency on developing the text messaging programme.
Conclusions:
Findings from this qualitative work informed the development of MyTeen, a text messaging programme designed to increase parental competence and improve mental health literacy for parents of adolescents. Clinical Trial: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ACTRN12618000117213)
Citation
