Excessive smartphone use by parents may harm children’s mental health

A child at the dinner table talks about problems at school or an argument with a friend, but the parents aren’t listening: they check their smartphones instead.

It’s a scenario that plays out millions of times a day in America and one that could be damaging to children’s mental health, a new study finds.

Canadian researchers report that children ages 9 to 11 who reported that their parents spent far too much time on their smartphones were more likely to develop anxiety, attention problems and hyperactivity later in life than children whose parents were not phone-obsessed.

“When children’s emotional and physical needs are consistently ignored or responded to inappropriately, they are at risk for developing mental health problems,” explains a team led by Sheri Madigan, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Calgary in Alberta.

Her team published their findings on August 16 in the journal JAMA Network Opened.

According to background data from the study, there is one recent study found that parents of babies now spend an average of more than five hours a day on their smartphones, with 27% of the time they spend with their baby being on their smartphones.

Another study 68% of parents admitted that they often get distracted by their smartphones while interacting with their children.

Research has shown that this kind of ‘technoference’ in parenting means less attention for children, less conversation and play between parents and children, and even a greater risk of injuries to children.

During adolescence, technoference is associated with “higher levels of parent-child conflict and lower levels of parental emotional support and warmth,” Madigan’s team found.

The Calgary group investigated the question further, looking at data from more than 1,000 Canadian children aged 9 to 11, collected at multiple points between 2020 and early 2022. Children were asked how much they agreed with statements such as, “I wish my parent would spend less time on their phone and other devices” or “I get frustrated when my parent is on their phone or other devices while we spend time together.”

The children were also assessed for various psychological problems, such as anxiety, depression, hyperactivity and attention deficit, which developed over time.

According to Madigan’s team, “higher levels of [child] Anxiety symptoms were associated with higher levels of perceived parental technoference later in development.”

According to the study authors, too much time parents spend on smartphones is also associated with “higher levels of inattention and hyperactivity symptoms later in development.”

The magnitude of these effects on children did not appear to change, regardless of whether the child was a boy or a girl.

The team noted that they focused on children between the ages of 9 and 11 because “this age range represents a sensitive period in brain development and is associated with an increased risk of mental health problems.”

However, it is difficult to determine the direction of the effect: are children more anxious and aggressive because their parents are glued to their smartphones, or do parents of children with behavioral problems use their smartphones as an outlet?

The new data suggests that anxious children may lead harried parents to use their smartphones more. However, excessive smartphone use by parents may promote inattention and hyperactivity in growing adolescents.

According to Madigan’s team, the research “highlights the complex relationship between parental technoference and the mental health of emerging adolescents.”

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