Peer-reviewed article
Prospective Association Between Parental Problematic Smartphone Use and Early Childhood Internalizing Symptoms.
de Andrade Rocha F, Binet MA, Garon-Carrier G, McDaniel BT, Fitzpatrick C ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study followed 315 Canadian parents and their children over two years to examine whether parents' problematic smartphone use when children were 3.5 years old was linked to children developing internalizing symptoms (sadness, anxiety) by age 5.5. Parents who used their phones problematically—such as using phones to escape when with their children—had children who showed more internalizing symptoms two years later. The researchers controlled for children's baseline emotional reactivity and parenting stress. The findings suggest that parental phone habits may affect young children's emotional development.
Key points
- Parental problematic smartphone use at age 3.5 was significantly associated with increased child internalizing symptoms at age 5.5 (β = 0.23, p = 0.047)
- Problematic smartphone use was measured using a seven-item scale including items like using phones to escape when with children
- Child internalizing symptoms were measured using the sadness subscale from the NIH toolbox
- Analysis controlled for child baseline emotional reactivity and parenting stress
- The study was prospective, following the same children over two years
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot establish causation, only association. Unmeasured confounding variables may explain the relationship, and results may not generalize beyond the Canadian population studied.
Abstract
Background Problematic smartphone use is common among parents. This study examines how parental problematic smartphone use when children are 3.5 years old is prospectively associated with the development of internalizing symptoms at age 5.5. Methods Participants are 315 Canadian parents who reported problematic smartphone use based on a seven-item scale (e.g., I use my phone to escape when I am with my children) when their children were 3.5 years old and and child internalizing symptoms by age 5.5 using the sadness subscale from the NIH toolbox. Control variables include child baseline emotional reactivity, measured using the CBQ-Short form and parenting stress, measured using the Parenting Stress Index (PSI-4). A structural equation model was estimated to assess associations between a parental problematic smartphone use latent factor and child internalizing symptoms. Results Results indicated a positive association between parental problematic smartphone use at age 3.5 and child internalizing symptoms at age 5.5 (β [95% CI] = 0.23 [0.003; 0.45]; p = 0.047). Conclusion Our findings indicate that parental problematic smartphone use is associated with increased child internalizing symptoms. These results highlight the importance of considering parental screen media use habits when designing awareness and intervention efforts aimed at promoting healthy child development and well-being.