Introduction to the Special Issue: eHealth in Pediatric Psychology

The interaction between psychology and technology has a rich history. Psychologists have always been resourceful in finding ways to utilize technology to enhance the provision of clinical care. However, the proliferation of computers and the Internet has vastly expanded the possibilities. The Internet, in particular, has ushered in the new field of eHealth within psychology. eHealth has been defined as the delivery of health services and information through the Internet and related technologies (Eysenbach, 2001). Given that families with children have a very high rate of computer (93%) and cell phone (95%) ownership (Kennedy, Smith, Wells, & Wellman, 2008), as well as the notable fact that 93% of youth (ages 12-17 years) and 94% of parents of these teens (87% of all parents) are online (Macgill, 2007), this has particular relevance to pediatric psychology. The Internet has become an important source of health care and medical information. Between 75% and 80% of Internet users have searched for health-related information online, making the act of looking for health information one of the most popular uses of the Internet (Fox, 2006, 2008). Parents, in particular, frequently use the Internet to search for information about their child's condition (Whyte & Hunter, 2008), and are more likely to use the Internet, and to look for health and medical infor- mation online, than nonparents (Fox, 2005). In addition, parents whose children suffer from a chronic condition are more likely to search the Internet for health-related infor- mation than those who have healthy children or children with acute conditions (Tuffrey & Finlay, 2002).