JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Social support and connection with other parents are important factors associated with parental mental health and parenting practices. These social connections can be integrated in parental eHealth programs through forums or group therapy sessions, but parental needs and preferences regarding these eHealth features are unknown.

Objective:

The present study aims to examine parent preferences for connecting with other parents in eHealth programs.

Methods:

162 parents of 0-5-year-old children in the US were recruited through MTurk (age 22-61y (M = 32.7); 80.2% White, 59.9% men, 39.5% women, 0.6% non-binary; 93.8% biological parents). Participants filled out a one-time survey. Best-practice recommendations for using MTurk were employed (CAPTCHA verification, attention checks). Descriptive statistics were run in SPSS 27 on MacOS.

Results:

Parents were asked to rate how likely they would be to use a virtual program with weekly opportunities to connect with other parents in the program (1 = very unlikely to 5 = very likely). 13.4% indicated that they would be (very) unlikely to use a program with that feature and 59.8% indicated that they would be (very) likely to use it, with the remaining 27.8% being neutral. In being asked specifically about their preference, 85% indicated that they would prefer connecting with other parents in the program, with 70% of those preferring connecting anonymously. On a forum, 67% indicated that they would be comfortable connecting with all parents (as opposed to mothers or fathers only); in videoconferencing, that number was 61%.

Conclusions:

Considering research showing the positive impact of social support for parental mental health and parenting practices, integrating anonymous connection with other parents should be considered in developing parental eHealth programs and would be in line with the preferences of most parents.