Do you love your phone more than your child? The consequences of norms and guilt around maternal smartphone use

Abstract

Previous research mainly linked smartphone use while parenting to adverse consequences. However, smartphones also offer helpful resources for parents, especially in stressful situations. We suggested that negative norms against maternal smartphone use and associated feelings of guilt may inhibit effective smartphone use for coping with stress. In a 1-week experience sampling study with mothers of young children (N = 158), we found that more negative injunctive but not more negative descriptive norms around maternal smartphone use were related to increased situational guilt around smartphone use while parenting. Increased situational guilt was, in turn, associated with decreased perceived coping efficacy but not with less stress decrease. Situational guilt—aggregated on the individual level—related to reduced satisfaction with the mother role. Our results show that positive and negative smartphone use effects are intertwined and that feelings around media use can impact media effects.