Digital media (DM) is omnipresent in society today and impacts every aspect of our life. Previous studies have shown DM to cause problems in interpersonal relationships by creating problematic interruptions in interactions, this has been termed technoference. The current study focuses on parents self-rated perceived technoference and the rated behavior of their 4- to 5-year-old children. Parents (N = 153) filled out an online questionnaire regarding family DM use and technoference as well as questions regarding their childs behavior. Parents rated the level of technoference caused by their own use of DM as well as the rate of technoference caused by the childs use of DM. Parents were also asked questions regarding their own possible problematic cell phone use. The findings reveal a statistically significant contribution of technoference, caused by the parents use of DM, to the behavior repertoire of the children.
Funding Agencies|Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council [2016-01033]