Is your child addicted to their screen?

This online webinar and Q&A will be presented by highly regarded psychologist, Associate Professor of Development Psychology Dr Wayne Warburton, Macquarie University. Dr Warburton is the leading authority on the neuroscience of screen addiction.

With a focus on the impacts of screen disorders and addiction on children and young adults, Dr Warburton will discuss

• how to identify when screen use becomes a problem or a disorder
• the design elements in screen products that keep people at screens
• factors that make kids more at risk to develop screen problems and disorders
• impacts of screen disorders on key brain functions such as attention, emotion regulation and impulse control, as well as impacts on physical and mental health.

Dr Warburton will share learnings from his RES@T-A program for teenagers with screen disorders and will finish the talk by providing concrete advice on managing screen use in households and what to do if there is a problem.

We encourage you to promote the webinar to other parents and carers, and through your local school communities.

Jane Miller
Chief Executive Officer, P&C Federation

Wayne Warburton
Associate Professor, Macquarie University

Dr Wayne Warburton is an Associate Professor of developmental psychology at Macquarie University and is also a registered psychologist. He has spoken to numerous parents and professionals who work with children over the last 15 years, particularly around issues related to media use and screen disorders.

His publications in scientific journals and books are primarily on topics around aggressive behaviour, the impact of media on young people, and screen overuse and addiction. He is author of the book Growing Up Fast and Furious, and of several statements by international panels of experts, including the International Society for Research on Aggression Statement on Media Violence and Statement on Risk Factors for Youth Violence, the Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues Research Summary on Media Violence, the American Psychological Association’s report of the Taskforce on the Sexualisation of Popular Music, and the world experts’ Statement on Video Game Violence used in the US Supreme Court case of California vs. Entertainment Merchants.

His work and his RES@T-A program were the subject of a touching Australian Story on the ABC that followed two wonderful teen boys with a screen disorder through the program (March 6, 2023; https://iview.abc.net.au/video/NC2302Q002S00). He has won more than 25 awards for his scholarship and teaching, including four from the Australian Psychological Society, and most recently the lifetime contribution to media psychology award from the American Psychological Association.