Calls over cuddles: Is technoference associated with lower parental warmth?

Based on past research showing negative associations between parents' use of mobile technologies whilst parenting (so-called “technoference”) and parental responsiveness and attachment, we hypothesised negative associations of technoference and parental warmth for parents of infants. Linear regression with bootstrapping was used to test the associations of several forms of mobile phone use and self-rated parental warmth in a sample of 64 predominantly White parents of 20-month-olds. Surprisingly, higher frequencies of receiving audible notifications and checking mobile devices by parents when with their infants were statistically significantly associated with higher parental warmth. Our findings may be due to higher levels of connectedness to the outside world “spilling-over” into more positive perceptions of time spent with the child. While our novel findings suggest some potential benefits of phone use whilst parenting, this must be interpreted in the context of a range of negative developmental outcomes now associated with technoference.