MOBILEPRESSURE
Developing strategies to reduce early exposure of children to smartphones and promote family digital well-being
The objective is to address the debate around smartphone use among children and preadolescents and determine when peer pressure influences parents' decisions to provide their children with a mobile phone.
Center: Universitat Ramon Llull
MOBILEPRESSURE explores how social pressure and peer influence impact parents’ decisions to purchase smartphones for their children, even at ages not recommended. Using an agent-based modeling (ABM) computational simulation, which enables the creation of virtual scenarios to better understand the social dynamics around device ownership, the project will help establish these thresholds and identify areas in Barcelona where such pressure is highest, in order to more efficiently direct educational resources and awareness campaigns. The results will provide tools to develop public policies and intervention programs that promote responsible mobile technology use among adolescents, protecting their well-being. With a multidisciplinary team of experts in social psychology, public health, statistics, and ethics, the project ensures a rigorous and comprehensive approach to addressing this challenge.
