AI Insight
This meta-analysis of 50 studies examined the relationship between parental phubbing (parents ignoring children to use smartphones) and problematic digital device use among Chinese children and adolescents. The analysis found a statistically significant moderate positive correlation (r = 0.308) between parental phubbing and pathological digital use in youth. The strength of this association varied depending on how both behaviors were measured and the specific type of problematic digital behavior examined, but was not affected by demographic factors like age, gender ratio, single-child status, or urban versus rural residence.
Why it matters
This research provides quantitative evidence that parents' smartphone habits directly influence children's risk of developing unhealthy digital behaviors. The findings suggest that interventions targeting parental phone use during family interactions could help prevent problematic technology use in young people.
Understand the Science
As a typical manifestation of parental emotional neglect, parental phubbing shows associations with pathological digital use among children and adolescents and is also adversely associated with their physical and mental wellbeing. Nevertheless, existing empirical studies have reached inconsistent conclusions regarding the association between them. Grounded in parental acceptance-rejection theory and compensatory Internet use theory, this study retrieved 50 eligible empirical studies from authoritative databases and adopted a random-effects model to perform a meta-analysis, accompanied by publication bias tests, heterogeneity tests, subgroup analyses, and meta-regression analyses. This study aimed to clarify the magnitude of the correlation between parental phubbing and pathological digital use among children and adolescents and to explore the sources of inconsistent research conclusions and the moderating mechanism of related variables. The results demonstrated a moderate, statistically significant positive association between parental phubbing and pathological digital use among children and adolescents (r = 0.308, 95% CI [0.280, 0.336]). The correlation between the two variables was significantly moderated by parental phubbing measures, pathological digital use measures, and behavioral subtypes of pathological digital use. In contrast, no significant moderating effects were detected for only-child status, the proportion of male children and adolescents, age groups, and residential settings [rural versus (vs.) urban].