Survey finds parents struggle with children’s digital, mental health needs; new centre offers help

AI generated

SINGAPORE – Many parents lack confidence in understanding and responding to their children’s digital habits and mental health needs, a 2025 survey of more than 300 parents has found.

While almost three in five parents (57.4 per cent) said their children had experienced mental health struggles in the past year, only 17 per cent of this group saw a moderate to direct link between these struggles and cyber or online causes.

Seven in 10 parents lacked confidence in identifying signs of mental distress in their children, according to the findings released on Aug 18.

The majority also reported challenges in limiting their children’s screen time or preventing their exposure to inappropriate content.

Only about one in five parents said they were confident in helping their children develop healthy digital habits.

The study – Parent Voices on Digital Wellness: A Singapore Study on Cyber Wellness and Mental Health – was conducted by TOUCH Cyber Wellness. It is a non-profit agency under TOUCH Community Services that promotes digital health, internet safety, and media literacy for youths, parents, and educators.

To address the gaps, TOUCH Community services launched DigitallyUs@Marine Parade, Singapore’s first integrated care model connecting digital wellness and mental health support for youths and their families.

Wendy Tan, deputy director of TOUCH Cyber Wellness, said gaming and social media may help young people cope with stress, loneliness or anxiety, but they can also affect mood, relationships and well-being.

“From our work on the ground, we saw youths who were facing online struggles. They were scrolling, they were using social media excessively. ... What people, (like parents and teachers), were missing were the drivers. Digital habits affecting emotional feelings is a fairly new phenomenon; so new that a lot of parents or caregivers themselves have not experienced this,” she noted.

“ At DigitallyUs, we want to help parents understand what their children are facing online, and the kind of pressures they are undergoing.”

The new space addresses this through four components. The first is outreach and advocacy which focuses on policymakers, school leaders, and community stakeholders. It involves the building of a shared understanding of digital wellness and shaping how systems respond to emerging youth needs so that support is not fragmented.

The second and the core component of DigitallyUs is MINDCove – an immersive, sensory-based learning space where youths step into guided scenarios that reflect real digital situations such as cyberbullying.

“They learn to recognise their thoughts and emotions and practise how to regulate their responses in the moment. Here, parents also gain insight into their children’s digital and emotional experiences,” Tan said.

The third component is targeted intervention and counselling programmes for youths and families who need more structured support.

The final part is Connection Cove, a sustained recovery and support ecosystem that helps youths maintain their progress after intervention through peer mentoring and ongoing engagement with families.

Through DigitallyUs, TOUCH Cyber Wellness aims to engage more than 16,000 youths and parents over the next three years through school programmes, parent education, early intervention, counselling and ongoing community support.

The integrated care centre was officially opened on Aug 18 by Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung, who is also Coordinating Minister for Social Policies. Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming also attended the event.

Among the guests invited to experience MINDCove were Mithra Mahendran and Isaac Yeo, both 15-year-old students from Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School.

They said the experience had opened their eyes to how they were using the Internet.

“My doom scrolling needs to stop. Often I tell myself just one more video, then I realised I had scrolled through several and it was a waste of time,” Mithra said.

“We were shown scenarios of how cyberbullying can be subtle. We never realised what we were doing in group chats could be deemed as such,” Isaac added. “I have to be more sensitive to my friends’ mistakes and not pick on them.”