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ABSTRACT Seeking consumer health and wellbeing information online is increasingly common. However, little is known about how people are using information targeted to a specific audience, and what happens as a result of this use. We partnered with Naitre & grandir (N&G), a magazine, website and newsletter offering trustworthy parenting information on child growth, development and health/wellbeing. This study was designed to uncover the outcomes of using online parenting information. We used the theory-driven Information Assessment Method (IAM) to study parental perception regarding outcomes of specific N&G webpages. We asked this research question: Is there a difference between parents with a low level of education and income vs. other parents? Over an 18-month study period, 1886 participants submitted 2532 IAM ratings that suggested N&G information was valuable in terms of situational relevance (97.2%), positive cognitive impact (99.7%), intention to use (97.9%) and expectation of benefits for child health and well-being (69.6%). Results suggested parents with a low level of education and income were less likely to expect that N&G information can improve their child's health and wellbeing. However, there were no differences regarding parental worries, problem prevention, problem management, information exchange (e.g., with professionals) and confidence in decision-making associated with information use. Results suggest trustworthy online parenting information for all persons, including parents with a low literacy level, can contribute to overcome the digital divide. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess outcomes of emailed parenting information from a parental viewpoint. In future research, we will describe health and wellbeing outcomes illustrated through stories collected from parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looking for consumer health/well-being information online is increasingly common. However, little is known about how people are using information targeted to a specific audience, and what happens as a result of this use. We partnered with 'Naitre & Grandir' (N&G), a magazine, website and newsletter offering trustworthy parenting information on child growth, development and health/wellbeing. This study was designed to uncover the outcomes of online parenting information. We used the theory-driven Information Assessment Method (IAM) to study parental perceptions regarding outcomes of specific N&G web pages. A research question was: Is there a difference between parents with a low level of education and income vs. other parents? Over an 8-month study period, 4007 participants submitted 4862 IAM ratings that suggested N&G information was valuable in terms of situational relevance (93.7%), positive cognitive impact (92.9%), intention to use (85.7%), and expectation for child health/well-being benefit (82.4%). In addition, results suggested participants with a low level of education and income were more likely to (i) seek and use information for the child of someone else, and (ii) expect being more engaged in decision-making for their child, and being less worried regarding a problem concerning their child. Our results do not support an association between the combined level of income and education, and perceived outcomes of information. This is the first study to assess outcomes of emailed parenting information from a parental viewpoint. More research is needed to better understand outcomes of targeted online information, which may ultimately contribute to improve people's health/well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]