Mental Health & Vacations: What Parents Need to Know, Backed by Science

Summer is a unique opportunity to relax, reconnect, and enjoy beautiful moments with your family. However, it is also a time that brings new challenges: how do we find a balance in screen use and how do we ensure everyone's mental well-being in a relaxed setting?

• In our first article, we present a short and practical guide on how to spend time in front of screens during the holidays. Without exaggeration or strict restrictions, we offer ideas for turning technology from a source of tension into an ally, with the aim of a freer and more meaningful summer. According to Dave Anderson, PhD, Vice President of Public Engagement and Education, Licensed Psychologist at the Center for ADD/ADHD and Behavioral Disorders at the Child Mind Institute, an effective screen strategy can be based on four key questions:

_What risks do you want to prevent?

_What would benefit your children's health and well-being?

_What values do you want to guide their experiences this summer?

_What practical steps can help you avoid tension or guilt?

Summer can be a chance to reconnect—not fight over screens. In the second article, Theano Touma, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Scientific Advisor to the Child Mental Health Initiative & Child Mind Institute, talks about how summer can strengthen parents and children mentally. Through simple, practical steps, she suggests ways to strengthen resilience, communication, and the joy of being together, leaving room for rest but also for small experiences that build self-confidence.

Both articles are based on current knowledge about mental health and have been written to help you enjoy summer with balance and care for the whole family.

Read and print the entire mini guide "Screen Time in Summer" by clicking here

Read and print the entire article "A Summer that Strengthens Parents and Children" by clicking here

Find more tips in our Short Guide for Parents on excessive screen use in children and teens by clicking here

The Children & Adolescent Mental Health Initiative implements its programs in collaboration with the Child Mind Institute and with the exclusive support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), as part of SNF's Global Health Initiative.