Tele-Pediatrics and Caregiver Psychology: Understanding Trust Development in Virtual Child Healthcare

Abstract

Tele-pediatrics has transformed caregiver–clinician communication, introducing new patterns of trust formation in remote child healthcare. This paper conceptualizes trust as a co-created process shaped by emotional responsiveness, communication reliability, and participatory interaction in virtual pediatric settings. Drawing on evidence from pediatric psychology, behavioral communication, and telehealth studies, a multidimensional framework is proposed with three interrelated components: interactional consistency, perceptual authenticity, and collaborative assurance. These constructs explain how caregivers interpret empathy, competence, and partnership during digital consultations. The framework highlights that trust in remote pediatric care extends beyond technical expertise, emerging through consistent communication and visible emotional understanding. It also identifies challenges such as depersonalization and reduced empathy in high-volume digital environments. The model offers theoretical insight into how trust evolves in technologically mediated healthcare and practical guidance for training clinicians to communicate emotional presence effectively through digital interfaces. Future work should include empirical validation through qualitative observation and caregiver narratives to assess the model’s relevance across diverse cultural and healthcare contexts.