Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Hershberg, Dr. Emily Upshur, and I talk about...

• How do you know when to encourage your child to stick with an activity versus when it’s okay to let them step away?
• Does your approach change if the activity is a team sport versus an individual activity?
• What are effective ways to talk to your partner about these concerns without triggering defensiveness or shutting down the conversation?
• How sibling dynamics along with parental expectations can influence a child’s interests and shape their developing identity.
• A helpful phrase you can use that may reduce some of the pressure and urgency, leading to lessened friction and tension between your partner and child.

ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about the hidden dangers of an achievement centric approach with Jennifer Breheny Wallace

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about temperament and personality development with Dr. Koraly Pérez-Edgar

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about whether or not it's okay to let your child quit an activity

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about navigating conflict in your relationship with Dr. Marina Rosenthal

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:

Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions!

Dr. Wendy Rote is joining me to unpack some surprising and even counterintuitive findings about kids, smartphones, and social media. She and her team are in the middle of a groundbreaking longitudinal study following tweens over time, giving us rare insight into how technology is shaping the mental health and identity development of Generation Alpha.

Together we explore:

• Why the question “Is social media making kids depressed?” might be the wrong one to ask and what we should be asking instead.

• A finding that might shock you: Kids with smartphones actually show better physical and mental health outcomes in some key areas.

• What kind of social media behaviors are linked to more depressive symptoms and why it’s not as simple as “time spent online.”

• How compulsive checking could be a major mental health red flag that parents often miss.

• New, not-yet-published finding on the real impact school cell phone bans have been shown to have on kids.

• Why do some kids without phones actually report more cyberbullying and what that might reveal about exclusion and social dynamics?

• The one tech rule that makes the biggest difference in kids’ well-being that has a greater impact that time limits and parental control setting.

If you’ve ever worried about screen time, debated a phone ban, or felt unsure how to support your child’s relationship with tech, this conversation will give you fresh perspective, surprising data, and tangible guidance rooted in real research.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY GUEST:

👉🏻 Learn more about Dr. Wendy Rote's research on ResearchGate and Google Scholar

REVIEW THE STUDY:

📚 Life In Media Survey

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:

📚 The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

🎧 Regulation, reward systems, and rest: Rewiring the way our kids interact with screens with Alé Duarte

MORE PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

🎧 264. The hidden dangers of EdTech: How technology in schools impacts learning, child development, and mental health with Andy Liddell

🎧 242. Have phones displaced our ability to play and have fun? How to be intentional with your tech use with Catherine Price

🎧 103. Secure attachment vs. social media: Navigating their effects on body image from early childhood to teen years with Dr. Miriam Steele

Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Hershberg, Dr. Emily Upshur, and I talk about...

• It’s okay to set boundaries without needing to justify why you are setting them.

• How to communicate your boundaries to a friend or neighbor (with a sample script you can use!) to honor your needs without burning a bridge.

• Effective communication strategies and suggested responses for setting restrictions on allowing one of the neighborhood kids to come over uninvited - and how you can respond if your friends or neighbors pushes back.

• What if your neighbor sees that you let other kids come over unsupervised?

• A reminder that both the mom setting the boundary and the mom receiving it could benefit from hearing.

ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about fostering deep and meaningful relationships with Dr. Rick Hanson

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about setting boundaries with family members

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about parental dysregulation with Dr. Amber Thornton

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:

Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions!