Research suggests that parent–child communication is rapidly changing as a result of the massive adoption of mobile devices and their penetration into interpersonal interaction within the family. Accordingly, this study aims to develop a more nuanced understanding of the impact of mobile device use on the quality of parent–child interaction in early childhood, based on ethnographic observations of 60 families at two playgrounds in the United States. The research findings suggest that parental behavior can be classified along a continuum of high engagement, divided engagement, and disengagement, often dependent upon whether and how parents use their mobile phone. Though mobile phones were not the only distracting factor during playground visits, their use was more highly correlated with parents’ disengagement from their children as compared to other distractors. Parents’ mobile phone use also corresponded to two main consequences for their children: safety concerns and emotional concerns, both resulting in missed opportunities for social learning. The results of this study call for closer attention to parental uses of mobile phones in public spaces.
BarrR.RibnerA.CoyneS. M.LinebargerD. L. (2016, October). A new wave of survey methodology: Using digital technology to gain a more comprehensive assessment of household media usage. Paper presented at the Technology and Media in Children’s Development Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA.
2.
BerkL. E. (2003). Child development. New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.
3.
BiringenZ.DerscheidD.VliegenN.ClossonL.EasterbrooksM. A. (2014). Emotional availability EA: Theoretical background, empirical research using the EA scales, and clinical applications. Developmental Review, 34(2), 114–167.
4.
BlackmanA. (2015). Screen time for parents and caregivers: Parental screen distraction and parenting perceptions and beliefs (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ETD Collection for Pace University. (Accession No. AAI3664563)
5.
BowlbyJ. (1982). Attachment and loss (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books.
6.
BowlbyJ. (1988). A secure base. Parent–child attachment and healthy human development. New York, NY: Basic Books.
7.
BullM. (2004). “To each their own bubble”: Mobile space of sound in the city. In CouldryN.McCarthyA. (Eds.), Media/space: Place, scale and culture in a media age (pp. 275–293). London, UK: Routledge.
8.
ChotpitayasunondhV.DouglasK. M. (2016). How “phubbing” becomes the norm: The antecedents and consequences of snubbing via smartphone. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 9–18.
9.
ColeM. P.TanZ. P. (2007). Emotion socialization from a cultural perspective. In GrusecJ. E.HastingP. D. (Eds.), Handbook of socialization: Theory and research (pp. 516–542). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
10.
De Souza e SilvaA.FirthJ. (2012). Mobile interface in public spaces: Locational privacy control and urban sociability. New York, NY: Routledge.
11.
FarranD. C.KasariC. (1990). A longitudinal analysis of the development of synchrony in mutual gaze in mother–child dyads. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 11, 419–430.
12.
FeldmanR. S. (2016). Child development (7th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
13.
GinsburgK. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent–child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182–191.
14.
HarristA. W.PettitG. S.DodgeK. A.BatesJ. E. (1994). Dyadic synchrony in mother–child interaction: Relation with children’s subsequent kindergarten adjustment. Family Relations, 43, 417–424.
15.
HarristA. W.WaughR. M. (2001). Dyadic synchrony: Its structure and function in children’s development. Developmental Review, 22, 555–592.
16.
HatukaT.TochE. (2014). The emergence of portable private-personal territory: Smartphones, social conduct and public spaces. Urban Studies, 53(10), 2192–2208.
17.
HinikerA.SobelK.SuhH.SungY. C.LeeC. P.KientzJ. A. (2015). Texting while parenting: How adults use mobile phones while caring for children at the playground. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 727–736). New York, NY: ACM.
ItoM.OkabeD.AndersonK. (2009). Portable objects in three global cities: The personalization of urban places. In LindR.CampbellS. (Eds.), The reconstruction of space and time through mobile communication practices (pp. 67–87). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
20.
JamesA. P. (2014). Parental socialization of children’s outdoor play (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
21.
KidwellM. (2005). Gaze as social control: How very young children differentiate “the look” from a “mere look” by their adult caregivers. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 38(4), 417–449.
22.
KleinkeC. L. (1986). Gaze and eye contact: A research review. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 78–100.
23.
Koren-KarieN.OppenheimD.HaimovichZ.Etzion-CarassoA. (2003). Dialogues of seven-year olds with their mothers about emotional events: Development of typology. In EmdeR. N.WolfD. P.OppenheimD. (Eds.), Revealing the inner world of young children: The MacArthur Story Stem Battery and parent–child narratives (pp. 338–354). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
24.
KrotzF. (2007). The meta-process of “mediatization” as a conceptual frame. Global Media and Communication, 3(3), 256–260.
25.
KrotzF.EastmanS. T. (1999). Orientations toward television outside the home. Journal of Communication, 49(1), 5–27.
26.
LaibleD.ThompsonA. R. (2007). Early socialization: A relationship perspective. In GrusecJ. E.HastingP. D. (Eds.), Handbook of socialization: Theory and research (pp. 181–207). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
27.
LauricellaA. R.RobertsM.CurtisP. (2016, October). Strategically using LENA to measure children’s media exposures. Paper presented at the Technology and Media in Children’s Development Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA.
28.
LemishD. (1982). The rules of viewing television in public places. Journal of Broadcasting, 26(4), 757–781.
29.
LemishD. (1985). Soap opera viewing in college: A naturalistic inquiry. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 29(3), 275–293.
30.
LindlofT. R.TaylorB. C. (2011). Qualitative communication research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
31.
LittleH.EagerD. (2010). Risk, challenge, and safety: Implications for play and the quality of playground design. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18, 497–513.
32.
ManganE.LeavyJ. E.JanceyJ. (2018). Mobile device use when caring for children 0–5 years: A naturalistic playground study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 29(3), 337–343.
33.
MannellR. C.KleiberD. A. (1997). A social psychology of leisure. State College, PA: Venture.
34.
McDanielB. T.RadeskyS. J. (2017). Technoference: Parent distraction with technology and associations with child behavior problems. Child Development, 89(1), 100–109.
35.
RadeskyJ.BickhamD. (2016, October). Passive sensing and ecologic momentary assessment of mobile technology use. Paper presented at the Technology and Media in Children’s Development Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA.
36.
RadeskyS. J.KistinJ. C.EisenbergS.GrossJ.BlockG.ZuckermanB.SilversteinB. (2016). Parent perspectives on their mobile technology use: The excitement and exhaustion of parenting while connected. Journal of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, 37, 694–701.
37.
RadeskyS. J.KistinJ. C.ZuckermanB.NitzbergK.GrossJ.Kaplan-SanoffM.. . . SilverteinM. (2014). Patterns of mobile devices use by caregivers and children during meals in fast food restaurants. Pediatrics, 133(4), e843–e849. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-3703
38.
RadeskyJ.MillerA. L.RosenblumK. L.AppuglieseD.KacirotiN.LumengJ. C. (2014). Maternal mobile device use during a structured parent–child interaction task. Academic Pediatrics, 15(2), 238–244.
SchofieldT. J.ParkeR. D.CastañedaE. K.ColtraneS. (2008). Patterns of gaze between parents and children in European American and Mexican American families. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 32(3), 171–186.
41.
SluckinA. (1981). Growing up in the playground. London, UK: Routledge.
42.
Steiner-AdairC.BarkerT. H. (2013). The big disconnect: Protecting childhood and family relationships in the digital age. New York, NY: Harper Business.
43.
TurkleS. (2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York, NY: Basic Books.
