Linking maternal phubbing (smartphone distractions in the presence of children) to child behavioral adjustment
A daily diary study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17560272 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chun Bun Lam (0000-0002-3195-7919, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong), Xiaomin Li (0000-0003-4488-0356, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, corresponding author), Chung Sze Lam (0000-0002-4732-5211, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong), C Christina Lam (Education University of Hong Kong), Kevin Kien Hoa Chung (0000-0002-8105-7361, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-31 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Behavioral Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0165-0254 • E-ISSN: 1464-0651 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/01650254261416410 |
| OpenAlex | W7126383946 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 22 |
This study examined whether daily variation in maternal phubbing (smartphone distractions in the presence of children) was associated with daily variation in child inattentive and oppositional behaviors. Daily diary data were provided by the mothers of 78 fourth graders (mean age = 9.20 years; age range = 8–10 years) studying in five elementary schools in Hong Kong. On each of five consecutive days, mothers filled in an online questionnaire in the evening on their own smartphone use and their children’s behavioral adjustment during the day. Multilevel autoregressive lag-1 models within the dynamic structural equation modeling framework were run separately for child inattentive behaviors and child oppositional behaviors. Results indicated that on days when mothers phubbed their children more than usual (compared to their cross-day averages), children showed more inattentive and oppositional behaviors than usual (compared to their cross-day averages), even controlling for children’s momentary behavioral changes on the prior day. Theoretically, findings pointed to the potential role of parents’ smartphone distractions during parent-child interactions in understanding day-to-day variation in children’s behavioral adjustment. Practically, findings highlighted the possible utility of helping parents manage their smartphone use as ways to promote their children’s positive development
Evening · Experience sampling method · Multilevel model · Parenting styles · Structural equation modeling · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Child Development and Digital Technology · Impact of Technology on Adolescents
Internalizing/Externalizing Problems
Technoference
The Disaggregation of Within-Person and Between-Person Effects in Longitudinal Models of Change
A primer on two-level dynamic structural equation models for intensive longitudinal data in Mplus.
My life has become a major distraction from my cell phone
The association between smartphone use, stress, and anxiety
Systematic review of the differences between mothers and fathers in parenting styles and practices
Phubbing
Multilevel Analysis
Children's descriptions of their involvement within everyday food practices
Put down the phone and accompany me
Parental Phubbing, Self-Esteem, and Suicidal Ideation among Chinese Adolescents
Associations among Parental Phubbing, Self-esteem, and Adolescents’ Proactive and Reactive Aggression
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |