Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Apr 17, 2022
Date Accepted: Sep 17, 2022
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.
Content Analysis of Mobile Apps for Child Development Support
ABSTRACT
Following increases in smartphone access, more parents seek out parenting advice through internet sources, including blogs, online forums, or mobile applications (apps). However, searching and filtering through apps in the app store can be challenging due to lack of regulation in the quality of available mobile apps, especially among apps that share medical advice or track health behaviors. To understand the availability and quality of apps for early childhood health promotion, we completed a content analysis of apps in two major app stores (Google Play Store and Apple App Store). We found that most apps do not provide tailored experiences to parents, including cultural considerations and language diversity, and instead promote generic guidance that may be useful to parents in some contexts. We discuss the need for an evaluative framework to assess apps aimed to support parents on child development topics. Future work is needed that addresses accessibility of mobile apps in this area, and how health equity may be applied to evaluation and app development in this space.
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Copyright
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