From Trust in Source to Trust in Content: How Parents’ Evaluation of Trustworthiness Shifts After First Impressions of an Evidence-Based Parenting Advice App

Abstract

This study examined how parents’ trust in an evidence-based parenting app is formed before and during initial use. In a sample of 106 parents, the study found that trust was related to intention to use the app. General trust in developmental science predicted trust in the app prior to first use. Transparency was identified as the key factor contributing to changes in trust after first use, while content quality had a marginal effect. Overall, the study highlights the importance of both trust in scientific disciplines and content-related transparency and quality cues for effective digital delivery of parenting advice.

Keywords:

• Trust
• parenting
• digital
• evidence-based
• transparency
• source

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Kathrin Fedeler, Silvia Scholz, Marie Landwers, and Annika Gausche for their contributions to content development and data collection, and Matthias Walther, Marc Schröder, and Stephan Domke for their contributions to app development and design. Special thanks go to our research coordinator, Ulrike Wilde. We wish to thank the parents who contributed their time and effort in this study.

Credit author statement

Conceptualization: Eva Strehlke, Rainer Bromme, Joscha Kärtner; Data collection: Eva Strehlke; Data Curation: Eva Strehlke; Formal analysis—planning: Eva Strehlke, Joscha Kärtner; Formal analysis: Eva Strehlke; Visualization: Eva Strehlke; Manuscript—original draft preparation: Eva Strehlke; Manuscript—review and editing: Rainer Bromme, Joscha Kärtner; Supervision: Joscha Kärtner, Rainer Bromme.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Ethics statement

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Psychological Department, University of Münster (approval no. 2021-21-ESt) and was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the Ethical Principles of the German Psychological Society (DGPs), the Association of German Professional Psychologists (BDP), and the American Psychological Association (APA). It involved no invasive or otherwise ethically problematic techniques and no deception. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The research reported in this study was part of a larger project supported by the German Research Foundation (Research Training Group DFG 1712-2).