Balancing Emotions and Electronics: A Pilot Intervention for Preschoolers
Brief Tech-Parenting for Regulatory Screen Use in Young Children: A Pilot Study
Boston Children's Hospital
30 participants
Mar 1, 2026
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
This study is testing a brief, virtual therapy for caregivers of preschool children. The goal is to reduce use of screen time to regulate young children's emotions and boredom, i.e. "regulatory screen use" (RSU). We expect that RSU negatively impacts young children's ability to cope with emotions and boredom. Thus, reducing RSU should improve children's self-regulation. The intervention will include three, 60-minute group sessions with caregivers, and remote data collection at three time points (pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up).
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria3
- Caregiver endorses regulatory screen use
- Child age 30-54 months at enrollment
- English speaking
Exclusion Criteria3
- Intellectual disability or global developmental delay
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Child in the custody of DCF
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Interventions
Brief-RSU Intervention: The Brief-RSU intervention consists of three, 60-minute sessions, outlined in Table 1. Brief-RSU aims to reduce RSU while increasing adaptive caregiver tools. Treatment targets include: 1) psychoeducation, 2) scheduling screen time to consistent times, 3) "planning ahead" for times when RSU is likely to occur, and 4) teaching the RULER approach\[9, 10\] to strengthen caregiver socialization of child emotion regulation (replacement behavior).
Locations(1)
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NCT07394166