COORDINATOR
Dr. Sonia Byrne is a permanent lecturer in the area of Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of La Laguna (Spain) and coordinator of the research group on ‘Family and Human Development’ at the same university. Director of the Master in Family, Social and Community Intervention and Mediation, she is specialized in positive parenting, evidence-based programmes for the promotion of positive parenting, especially in situations of psychosocial risk and prevention of child abuse.
Since 2018, member of the European Family Support Network (EuroFam) which aims to support family policies and practices in order to ensure children’s rights and the well-being of families. Through working in a multidisciplinary network based on good practices.
She has participated and led international, national, regional and local competitive research projects and contracts, which has allowed her to have a wide scientific production and experience in knowledge transfer at regional, national and European level.
Since 2005, has participated in the design and implementation of numerous programmes for families at psychosocial risk used in various Spanish autonomous communities, which have been transferred to other countries such as Portugal and Brazil.
The sector of social services and entities aimed at the care of children, adolescents and families has experienced, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequences of the suspension of face-to-face care, which forced professionals to adapt quickly, modifying their traditional methods and learning new forms of support and intervention. The pandemic has served as a challenge and, in turn, as a mirror reflecting both the weaknesses and strengths of the family support system in its three functions: prevention, promotion and protection. However, times of crisis can also create opportunities to improve access to open-access digital parenting support resources.
Given the increased use of digital resources internationally, it is critical to delve deeper into the national context to investigate how these resources are used and how is user satisfaction. It is essential to have access to web platforms that offer quality content to ensure a positive parental experience. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the needs that have arisen in this area and to assess whether the available resources have succeeded in meeting them, both from the perspective of professionals and families.
This symposium aims to explore these issues. Begins with the implications of joint participation of families in digital leisure activities, continues analyzing the dynamics of use of digital resources by social service professionals, who have different profiles of use, and by families, who are characterized by using a wide variety of digital resources but with low levels of satisfaction with the content for their parental task. And it ends by delving into a type of high-quality digital resources, such as structured online programs, presenting as an example the program ‘Positive Parent’.