Researchers analyzed surveys of more than 3,600 parents asking about how often they used their smartphones, what they did on them, their smartphone use around their kids, and their relationship with their kids.
The results showed the link between smartphone use and parent-child relationships was relatively weak and pretty mixed. The real mediating factor between smartphone use and parenting was the degree to which the tech interfered with family time. In other words, if a parent tended to become so absorbed in their phone that they were less present or spent less time with their kids, then that interference did hurt their relationship with their kids.
But parents who used their phones a lot without it interfering with family—in other words, parents who were just texting or browsing on their phones while still being engaged and responsive to their kids—didn't experience any negative effects at all. In fact, as long as this interference factor was low, more smartphone use was actually associated with stronger attachment between parents and their kids.
"For parents, the smartphone is an essential link to the outside world for support, knowledge, or to connect with others in similar situations," Lynette Vernon, Ph.D., one of the researchers, explained in a news release. "Across diverse family environments, smartphones play multiple roles in family life, including provision of social support and information and allowing for work and digital errands. As long as phones are not heavily impacting on family time, smartphones tend to be tied to positive (and not negative) parenting."
For many people, their phone is a big part of their social lives and how they interact with the world, especially amid COVID-19. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and for parents, it can be a life-sustaining way to remain connected to others.
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July 12, 2020 at 12:18AM
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Using Your Smartphone Doesn't Make You A Bad Parent, Researchers Find - mindbodygreen.com
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