Technoference in Parents of Primary School-Aged Children and its Associations with Parental Problematic Screen Use and Sociodemographic Characteristics

INTRODUCTION: Parental technoference (PTF) refers to the behaviour of a parent who looks at the screen of their smartphone (or other electronic device) instead of their child’s face during parent-child interaction. The parent’s inattention to the child disrupts adult–child reciprocal trust and warmth, negatively affecting the parent-child relationship. The parent may also unconsciously convey to the child that they are of low importance. Additionally, given that children lack awareness about what is right and wrong in relation to screen use, frequent PTF may lead to the establishment of bad habits and a lack of self-regulation in the child’s own screen use. This study aimed to explore the prevalence and severity of technoference in parents of elementary school children and the associations between PTF and sociodemographic variables and parental problematic screen use. 

METHODS: We analysed survey data from 1915 parents of primary school children (mean age: 8.4 years) from Czechia, Slovakia, and Finland.

RESULTS: The frequency of self-reported PTF differed based on sociodemographic characteristics. We found a positive association between PTF and the parent’s education, family income, child’s position among siblings, child’s year of study, size of the city where the family lived, and parent’s self-reported problematic digital use. No association was found between PTF and the child’s sex, parent’s sex, parent’s age and family intactness.

CONCLUSIONS: Parents with a university degree, those with higher incomes and those living in large cities were found to be at greater risk for PTF. Further studies that analyze potential moderators, such as parenting stress and work-related screen use are warranted to better understand the dynamics of PTF.