Reciprocal Relationship Between Parental Technoference and Adolescent Problematic Mobile Phone Use: The Longitudinal Mediating Roles of Paternal and Maternal Attachment

Abstract

Parental technoference, which refers to the interference of parent–child interactions by technology, has been demonstrated to be a risk factor for adolescent Problematic Mobile Phone Use (PMPU). From the perspective of family systems theory, the impact of adolescent PMPU on parental technoference seems also plausible. The present research investigated the bidirectional predictive association between parental technoference and adolescent PMPU through the mediating roles of paternal and maternal attachment using a two-wave cross-lagged design. A total of 1664 Chinese adolescents (61.24% female; M_age = 16.86 ± 0.77) were surveyed at Time 1 (January 2023) and Time 2 (August 2023). Results showed that Time 1 parental technoference predicted Time 2 adolescent PMPU and Time 1 adolescent PMPU predicted Time 1 parental technoference. Furthermore, both paternal attachment and maternal attachment had longitudinal mediating effects on the reciprocal association between parental technoference and adolescent PMPU. Finally, there was no difference between boys and girls in the longitudinal relationship among parental technoference, paternal and maternal attachment, and adolescent PMPU. The findings reveal the interdependent connections between parental and child usage of electronic devices, highlighting the roles of paternal and maternal attachment separately. The findings contribute to a family-based solution for preventing and intervening in adolescent PMPU.