Technology and Child Development: The Effect of Parental Mobile Use on the Behaviour and Emotion Regulation of 3 and 4 Year Old Childre

Abstract

Parental use of mobile phones in the presence of children has been linked to reductions in optimal child development. This study investigates whether parental mobile phone use is associated with children’s behaviour and children’s emotion regulation ability. Thirty mothers and 2 fathers (N = 32) of 32 children between the age of 3 and 4 years old (Child Mage = 45 months) participated in the study. Parents completed an online survey which consisted of a combination of standardised and bespoke measurements relating to their phone use and their children’s behaviour and emotion regulation. Parent reported screen use indicated no relationship with children’s behaviour or emotion regulation. Additionally, parent screen time statistics indicated no relationship between children’s behaviour and emotion regulation. Contrary to previous literature so far, the current study suggests that there is no general effect of parental mobile use (looking at both reported screen time and screen time statistics) on children’s behavioural and emotional development. Current literature suggests that parental use of mobile phones around children may be altering the interaction children require from parents to reach optimal behavioural and emotion regulation development. Recruitment took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, therefore the results gathered may have been affected by unique variables relating to the imposed lockdown by the government.