Commentary: Technoference or parental phubbing? A call for greater conceptual and operational clarity of parental smartphone use around children

Parental Technology Use in a Child's Presence and Health and Development in the Early Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Importance

Parental technology use in a child's presence (hereafter, PTU), often referred to as technoference, is a growing concern in family dynamics, and no studies have quantitatively synthesized associations with children's health and development.

Objective

To systematically review and synthesize literature on associations between PTU in their child's presence and motor development, cognitive development, psychosocial health, physical activity, screen time, and sleep in early childhood.

Data Sources

Peer-reviewed studies from MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest published from inception to July 2024.

Study Selection

A total of 6212 studies were initially identified. Studies were included if they examined associations between PTU in the presence of their apparently healthy children (birth to age 4.9 years) and motor development, cognitive development, psychosocial health, physical activity, screen time, or sleep.

Data Extraction and Synthesis

PRISMA guidelines were followed. Random-effect models were conducted to determine the pooled estimates of the associations and moderating effects of the type of exposure (distraction/interruption). The risk of bias was assessed using the JBI critical appraisal tools.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Association between PTU in the child's presence and motor development, cognitive development, psychosocial health, physical activity, screen time, and sleep.

Results

Twenty-one studies involving 14 900 participants from 10 countries were included in the meta-analysis. Significant associations were found between parental technology use in the child's presence and cognition (r = -0.14; 95% CI, -0.23 to -0.04), internalizing behavior and emotions (r = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.19), externalizing behavior (r = 0.15; 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.21), prosocial behavior (r = -0.08; 95% CI, -0.13 to -0.02), attachment (r = -0.10; 95% CI, -0.19 to -0.01), and screen time (r = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.32). No moderating effects of the type of PTU exposure on any associations were found. No study examined motor development, physical activity, or sleep.

Conclusions and Relevance

Parents' use of technology in their child's presence was negatively associated with cognitive and psychosocial outcomes and screen time among young children, although the effect sizes were small. Further research focusing on potential impacts on physical activity, sleep, and motor skills is needed. Understanding these associations is crucial for informing research and guidelines aimed at minimizing the potential negative effects of this phenomenon on early childhood development.

Coworker Phubbing and Links to the Psychosocial Work Environment Among Electricians in Sweden

"Phubbing" (phone snubbing) has been consistently associated with negative intra- and interpersonal outcomes across various social contexts. However, the potential impact of phubbing on horizontal workplace relationships has not been extensively explored. The present study aimed to examine associations between coworker phubbing during breaks and social support and community, horizontal trust, and organizational commitment among electricians in Sweden. An auxiliary aim was to adapt and validate a coworker phubbing scale. In Studies 1a and 1b, confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess and validate the coworker phubbing scale in two samples. In Study 2, structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship between phubbing and included psychosocial work environment measures. Exposure to phubbing from coworkers was associated with lower perceived support and community, trust, and commitment. The associations were stronger for more severe phubbing behaviors. Engaging in phubbing others was not considerably linked to the psychosocial measures. Younger participants reported engaging in more phubbing and lower perceived exposure to more severe phubbing. Smartphone habits at work may have implications for the psychosocial work environment and, by extension, important outcomes such as well-being, job satisfaction, performance, and turnover.

Effects of Parents' Smartphone Use on Children's Emotions, Behavior, and Subjective Well-Being

This study aimed to examine the associations between parents' smartphone use during conversations with children, children's emotional and behavioral reactions to parents' smartphone use, and children's well-being. This study was conducted on a sample of 284 children (aged 10 to 15 years, with a mean age of 12.23 in 2021; 40.2% boys). The data come from a four-wave longitudinal study (2021-2023) within the project D.E.C.I.D.E. Children reported how often their parents use smartphones during conversations with them (second wave), their emotions and behaviors related to parents' smartphone use (third wave), and their subjective well-being (fourth wave). A proposed model was tested in which the frequency of parents' smartphone use during parent-child conversations was a predictor, different children's emotional and behavioral reactions to parents' smartphone use were mediators, and children's well-being was the criterion. The results showed that more frequent parents' smartphone use is associated with more frequent children's experiences of anger and sadness in situations when parents use smartphones while with children, which is linked to lower children's well-being. More frequent parents' smartphone use is associated with more giving up on seeking parents' attention among children, which is related to lower well-being.

The association between parents phubbing and prosocial behavior among Chinese preschool children: a moderated mediation model

Introduction

The popularization and widespread use of smartphones and other electronic devices have led to the occurrence of "parents phubbing", which may have a negative impact on child-parent relationship and preschoolers' prosocial behavior.

Methods

To clarify this process, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 3,834 parents from 20 kindergartens in Zhuhai, China. This study examined the relationship between between parents phubbing, closeness child-parent relationship, authoritative parenting style and children's prosocial behavior.

Results

According to the study, we found a significant negative correlation between parents phubbing and preschoolers' prosocial behavior. Closeness child-parent relationship mediated between parents phubbing and preschoolers' prosocial behavior through mediation effects analysis. In other words, parent phubbing was negatively associated with closeness child-parent relationship, which in turn predicted less child prosocial behavior. In addition, authoritative parenting styles have a moderating effect. As the level of authoritative parenting style increases, the negative impact of parent phubbing on the prosocial behavior of preschool children is attenuated.

Discussion

This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between parents phubbing and prosocial behaviors of preschool children, as well as the internal mechanisms at work. Practically, the study suggests that parents should reduce the incidence of phubbing in their contact with their children and, at the same time, work to improve the child-parent relationship and promote the development of prosocial behaviors in children.