JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting

The Daniel Stern concept of the motherhood constellation describes a distinctive psychic organization that emerges in the transition to motherhood, structured by 3 relational discourses and 4 thematic concerns: safeguarding infant life and growth, establishing primary relatedness, securing a matrix of support, and reorganizing maternal identity. Formulated in the mid-1990s, this framework preceded the pervasive integration of smartphones, social media, and artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday life. Contemporary mothers now care for infants in environments saturated by online information, connectivity, and AI-mediated support, raising questions about how these factors participate in and reshape the Stern architecture. This theoretical paper argues that smartphones and AI function not as neutral tools but as systemic actors within the motherhood constellation. Drawing on the Stern model, attachment theory, mentalization research, ecological perspectives, sociotechnical theory, and empirical work on technoference, maternal smartphone use, digital parenting, online maternal communities, and AI-based mental health interventions, we conceptualize digital technologies as entities whose affordances co-structure maternal psychic life. Available findings indicate that they simultaneously expand access to information and support, introduce interactional disruptions, and create new, partially algorithmic matrices of support, with effects moderated by patterns of use, maternal reflective functioning, child characteristics, platform design, and socio-structural conditions. We propose a technologically mediated motherhood constellation, in which smartphones and AI enter all 3 discourses (mother–own-mother, mother–self-as-mother, and mother-infant) and all 4 themes. Rather than asking whether technology is “good” or “bad” for motherhood, we outline a spectrum from technology-enhanced to technology-disrupted constellations and derive implications for clinical practice, research, technology design, and social policy.

Child abuse is an important issue that threatens child development. The COVID-19 pandemic had psychological, social, and economic effects, and concerns were raised about a possible increase in child maltreatment.

Oppositional symptoms in youth are characterized by an angry or irritable mood and excessive defiance (eg, arguing), negatively impacting the mental well-being of children, adolescents, and their caregivers. Pediatric digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) that approach care from a whole-family perspective may effectively address mental health (MH) symptoms in both pediatric participants and their caregivers, though this has not been explored in the context of oppositional symptoms.

While family-centered rounds are considered the standard of care, coordinating the presence of all stakeholders without knowing when the medical team will arrive can make their implementation challenging. To address this barrier, we created novel software, Q-rounds, that is integrated into the electronic health record and creates a real-time rounding queue that updates nurses and family members on medical team rounding time and allows families to join in person or remotely via phone. A previous observational study showed that the implementation of Q-rounds in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) led to increased nurse and family presence.

Technology is integrated into many children’s daily lives, with parents’ and health professionals’ perspectives shaping children’s technology use. Measuring and understanding these perspectives are essential for developing strategies for supporting adults in decision-making that help children thrive in a digital world.

Many parents today use digital or mobile health (mHealth) resources for parenting information and support. Thus, interventions or programs to support parenting delivered in this way are a rapidly growing area of innovation and research. Evidence indicates that face-to-face interventions that provide education and support for parents about infant sleep can have positive impacts on both infant sleep and maternal mood. However, there is limited research on the delivery of such interventions via digital or mHealth platforms. SleepWellBaby is an infant sleep mobile app for parents with infants and young children. The app provides parents with a 7-day program that may be repeated according to individual user demand, with information and interactive features aimed at supporting parents to understand infant sleep, and providing advice about strategies to support sleep in a responsive way.

Traditional models of applied behavior analysis (ABA) services for those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involve time-intensive, labor-intensive, comprehensive, in-person services. The increasing prevalence of ASD in the United States has precipitated a need to identify effective, accessible, and innovative methods to address the needs of those with ASD.

Hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) is a life-threatening condition resulting from maternal-fetal erythrocyte antigen incompatibility. Although anti–Rhesus D (RhD) prophylaxis has reduced RhD-associated cases, HDFN persists due to non-RhD antibodies and gaps in prevention. Population-based data on maternal and neonatal outcomes and recurrence patterns are limited.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) not only affects a person’s social communication and behaviors, but also has an impact on their parents, who encounter different challenges during caregiving. Interventions developed for parents of children with ASD often focus on improving child outcomes and seldom consider the well-being of parents and families. Interventions leveraging mindfulness-based approaches have been developed to support parents of children with ASD, but the costs, inflexibility, and scarcity of resources may limit their accessibility. App-based interventions can be an accessible, scalable, and economical way of providing interventions at a primary health care level.

Using social media to deliver e-cigarette cessation interventions to young people is a promising approach, but low participant engagement and retention may undermine intervention efficacy. Peer mentoring holds great potential to address these issues.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the leading infectious causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with children representing a particularly vulnerable group. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, pediatric TB continues to be underdiagnosed and underreported, particularly in rural health zones such as Kabondo Dianda.

Children with medical complexity experience multiple chronic conditions that demand intensive, ongoing, and highly coordinated care, often placing a burden on their parents, who serve as primary caregivers. Digital health offers a promising solution for enhancing care coordination, monitoring, and communication. However, its effectiveness depends on it being developed as a user-centered solution that incorporates feedback from parents, who are the primary decision-makers and advocates in their children’s health care. By prioritizing the voices of parents, especially those from underserved communities, during the design and implementation of digital health solutions, these tools can more effectively meet their unique needs. This ensures that digital health solutions are effective in real-world caregiving scenarios.