Family technoference: Exploring parent mobile device distraction from children’s perspectives

The goal of the present study is to understand how preadolescents’ perceptions of their parents’ mobile device distraction (“technoference”) are related to their global assessment of family satisfaction. Building on existing research, a model is established that investigates this association through three mediators: parent–child conflict; companionship; and perceived emotional support. Data from a cross-sectional survey (n= 742, 9–13 years, 50.9% girls, mean age =10.85, standard deviation = 0.73) supported most of the associations specified in our model. First, our findings demonstrate that preadolescents who perceived higher amounts of parent technoference also rated the relationship with their parents significantly higher in conflict, and lower in terms of perceived companionship. Moreover, maternal mobile device distraction was significantly associated with less emotional support. All but one of the indirect associations were found to be statistically significant, thus revealing a number of pathways through which technoference is related to preadolescents’ assessments of family satisfaction.