Technoference: Parent Distraction With Technology and Associations With Child Behavior Problems

Overview

Journal Child Dev

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2017 May 12

PMID 28493400

Citations 63

Authors

Brandon T McDaniel

Jenny S Radesky

Affiliations

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Abstract

Heavy parent digital technology use has been associated with suboptimal parent-child interactions, but no studies examine associations with child behavior. This study investigates whether parental problematic technology use is associated with technology-based interruptions in parent-child interactions, termed "technoference," and whether technoference is associated with child behavior problems. Parent reports from 170 U.S. families (child M = 3.04 years) and actor-partner interdependence modeling showed that maternal and paternal problematic digital technology use predicted greater technoference in mother-child and father-child interactions; then, maternal technoference predicted both mothers' and fathers' reports of child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results suggest that technological interruptions are associated with child problem behaviors, but directionality and transactional processes should be examined in future longitudinal studies.

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