Deakin University researchers have developed a new app to help parents better support their young children through the challenging moments of their day.
The Daily Growth app targets specific situations that parents of two-to five-year-olds face and provides tips and support to help the child develop their social and emotional skills and ultimately navigate a pathway to good mental health.
Research lead Associate Professor Elizabeth Westrupp from Deakin's SEED Lifespan Strategic Research Centre in the School of Psychology said the app was now in the trial phase in Victoria and the research team is looking for families willing to take part.
'When children are young, they rely on their parents to teach them how to recognise and manage their emotions through co-regulation, but parents aren't getting enough support to do this well,' Associate Professor Westrupp said.
'In fact, most families with kids aged two to five don't receive any evidence-based parenting support.
'We know that modern families are busy, so we have designed a new, quick, and convenient way for parents and carers to get parenting help for common challenging situations. Daily Growth is readily available on a smartphone and is the first app to use daily surveys and micro-interventions to provide parenting support.
'Every day at 7am and 7pm, we will ask parents a couple of questions, which they can answer when it suits them. These questions will help us to tailor our tips so they're relevant to individual families. This means that families can get the type of support they need, exactly when they need it.'
The Daily Growth app was developed with a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ideas grant in partnership with Meli, The University of Melbourne and Wayapa Wuurrk, an Aboriginal-led organisation offering an earth connection practice based on ancient Indigenous wisdom.
Associate Professor Westrupp said emotion regulation, or our ability to understand and manage our emotions, was necessary for healthy relationships throughout life, to ensure positive outcomes at school and in the playground but it was also critical for good mental health.
'Mental illness affects almost half of Australian adults over their lifetime - and an even higher proportion of Indigenous Australians. These illnesses typically begin in childhood and research shows that programs that improve children's emotion regulation can prevent or reduce mental illness later in childhood,' Associate Professor Westrupp said.
Meli Director of Children's Services, Mandy Baxter, said the Daily Growth app had the potential to help the thousands of families and children supported by Meli each day.
'We know about 90 per cent of a child's brain development is reached by the age of five so Meli is excited about the potential of the Daily Growth app to enable parents and carers to help navigate everyday challenges as they arise,' Ms Baxter said.
Parents interested in testing the Daily Growth app can find further information at dailygrowth.deakin.edu.au
