So close yet so far: Digital wounds from parental phubbing on adolescent digital self-harm

Abstract

The development of digital technology has profoundly reshaped individual mental health, with issues such as digital self-harm and digital neglect emerging as unique psychological risks of the digital era. As a form of digital neglect within the family, the potential role of parental phubbing in triggering adolescent digital self-harm has yet to be fully explored. Based on compensatory internet use theory and demands-resources theory, this study explored the relationship between parental phubbing and adolescent digital self-harm, as well as the mediating role of smartphone addiction and the moderating role of self-concept clarity. A total of 757 Chinese adolescents (52.2 % girls; M_age = 14.40 years) anonymously completed the Parental Phubbing Scale, Digital Self-Harm Scale, Mobile Phone Addiction Scale, and Self-Concept Clarity Scale. The results indicated that parental phubbing significantly predicted adolescent digital self-harm, and smartphone addiction mediated this association. The mediating effect of smartphone addiction was significant only at low levels of self-concept clarity. These findings not only reveal the potential threats that parental phubbing poses to adolescent mental health in the digital age, but also provide a dual-system intervention framework from both family and individual perspectives for addressing adolescent digital self-harm.