A Translational Research Approach to Healthy Technology Usage in Language-Minority Families with Young Children

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PROJECT SUMMARY Technology use among young children in the U.S. has become increasingly prevalent over the past decade, and the transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed concerns among parents and educators about screen time. Recommendations for choosing high-quality apps and setting boundaries around device use are often conveyed through position statements, white papers, and blog posts, but the information is rarely presented in an engaging, family-friendly manner that can be readily adopted and sustained in young children’s everyday routines. As a matter of health equity, this challenge is felt even more acutely among language-minority households, who additionally face language barriers when attempting to access relevant resources. This project delivers an interactive, bilingual, hybrid virtual-and-physical world approach to address these translational gaps. It presents recommendations from the academic and medical spheres through bilingual storytelling and a suite of interactive, co-play activities in an online virtual world, then transitions the gameplay to caretaker-child interactions in the physical world, empowering users to first practice healthy technology through interactive online games and then implement those rehearsed practices in their day-to-day lives. The effectiveness of the online platform and interactive content will be evaluated through a randomized controlled study. Improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and confidence related to healthy technology use will be assessed among children and their caretakers. The platform will also be evaluated for its ability to facilitate bilingual interactions between child and caretaker that support learning and language development. Overall, our product will serve not only as a means to inform families of best technology use practices, but as a catalyst to broaden and reimagine joint play with digital devices especially among linguistic minority families.