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The association of parental phubbing behavior with digital game use in preschool children
Erdal Görkem Gavcar1, Ahmet Buber2, Hande Senol3
1Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kirikkale Yuksek Ihtisas Hospital, Kirikkale, Turkey.
Insights
Parental phone snubbing (phubbing) increases children's digital game addiction and decreases their social skills. Children's social skills may mediate this negative impact, highlighting the need for awareness to improve parent-child relationships.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Digital Media Studies
- Family Dynamics
Background:
- Phubbing, or phone snubbing, describes prioritizing smartphone use over in-person interaction.
- Parental phubbing may significantly influence child development and behavior.
- Understanding these dynamics is crucial for fostering healthy parent-child relationships.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between parental phubbing and children's digital game addiction tendencies.
- To examine the impact of parental phubbing on children's social skill development.
- To explore the mediating role of children's social skills in this relationship.
Main Methods:
- Online survey administered to parents of 191 preschool children (ages 3-6).
- Data collected on parental sociodemographics, phubbing levels, digital game addiction tendencies, and children's social skills.
- Statistical analyses including correlation and regression were performed.
Main Results:
- A significant positive correlation was found between parental phubbing levels and children's digital game addiction.
- Parental phubbing was identified as a predictor for increased digital game addiction and decreased social skills in children.
- Children's social skills demonstrated a mediating effect on the association between parental phubbing and digital game addiction.
Conclusions:
- Parental phubbing negatively affects children's digital game addiction and social skills.
- Interventions aimed at reducing parental phubbing could mitigate risks for children's digital behavior and social development.
- Addressing parental phubbing is essential for enhancing parent-child interactions and child well-being.
Abstract:
The term "phubbing" is a combination of the words "phone" and "snubbing" and is explained as preferring the virtual environment to real communication by engaging with a smartphone during social interaction. Our study included 191 children aged 3-6 attending preschool education. The parents of the children were contacted via an online survey to provide information about their sociodemographic, general phubbing, digital game addiction tendencies, and social skills scale scores. The results showed a positive correlation between parental phubbing level and children's digital game addiction tendencies. Furthermore, the regression analysis revealed that parental phubbing was an increasing factor in children's tendency toward digital game addiction and a decreasing factor in children's social skill levels. In addition, we found that children's social skills may play a mediating role in the relationship between parental phubbing level and digital game addiction tendencies. Understanding the effects of parents' phubbing behaviors on children can help raise awareness and take measures to improve parent-child relationships.
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