Effect of Maternal Factors on Problematic Smartphone Use among Elementary School Children

Abstract

Mothers play a key role in ensuring their children’s healthy life. This study aimed to identify the maternal factors affecting problematic smartphone use in children. We adopted a cross-sectional descriptive design using structured questionnaires. Participants were fourth to sixth grade elementary school students in Korea (n = 184). The following maternal factors were evaluated: maternal mediation, children’s perception of mothers’ smartphone use, mother–child communication, and parenting style. Data regarding maternal factors’ effect on problematic smartphone use were analyzed by computing descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis using SPSS Win 27.0. The results show that the maternal factors that influenced problematic smartphone use in children were maternal control over smartphone usage (odds ratio (OR) = 5.10, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.33–19.60), smartphone usage time for social network service (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.10–2.01), and problematic mother–child communication (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.00–1.14). Therefore, to promote appropriate smartphone use among school children, it is necessary to develop an intervention comprising maternal supervision of their children’s smartphones, guidance provision for social network service usage, and strategies for the reinforcement of positive mother–child communication.

Problematic Smartphone Use in Adolescents: Parental Structure and Parental Psychological Control as Predictors

“…A study by Yao et al (2021) explained that adolescents' need for frustration and problematic smartphone use was determined by parental psychological control. Another possible explanation for our finding is that adolescents might increase the use of smartphones to satisfy their unmet basic psychological needs (Lee & Kim, 2021). Adolescents will perceive parental psychological control as a stressful situation and use smartphones as dysfunctional coping stress (Li et al, 2013;Wu et al, 2016).…”

Inconsistent Media Mediation and Problematic Smartphone Use in Preschoolers: Maternal Conflict Resolution Styles as Moderators

“…Similarly, studies that examine parental smartphone mediation in relation to problematic smartphone use in children (10 years old and below) have shown that active and restrictive mediation served as a protective factor against problematic smartphone use [ 15 , 16 ]. In contrast, other studies have found that active and restrictive maternal mediation did not affect children’s (10 to 12 years old) problematic smartphone use [ 17 ], and that restrictive mediation may even increase its likelihood in children and adolescents aged 10 to 18 years old [ 18 , 19 ].…”

“…Nielson et al [ 32 ] conducted a systematic literature review on adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old and found that none of the three parental mediation strategies—active, restrictive, or co-viewing—were consistently associated with an increase or decrease in problematic internet use and problematic online gaming. Similarly, Lee et al [ 17 ] found that parental mediation—specifically, that of mothers—had no significant effect on children’s (10 to 12 years old) problematic smartphone use. Recently, however, Yang et al [ 33 ] studied children aged 10 to 12 years and found that the use of active mediation significantly predicted less problematic smartphone use in children.…”

“…Conversely, when parents employed negative conflict resolution tactics, such as aggression and displays of anger, children were more likely to exhibit both internalizing and externalizing behaviors, e.g., [ 29 , 49 , 52 ]. In a similar vein, studies suggest that negative conflict resolution tactics have been related to a host of poor developmental outcomes in children [ 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ], including greater levels of aggression, delinquency, interpersonal problems at school and home, and smartphone addiction [ 17 , 33 ]. Specifically, although intended to induce compliance with rules, psychological aggression, such as frequent negative commands and threats, may be ignored by the child, which results in passive noncompliance [ 58 ] or even acts of defiance [ 39 , 59 ].…”

Visualizing the Complex Problem of Children's Digital Wellbeing in South Korea: A Systems Thinking Approach

“…However, it was also pointed out that instead of screen time, the type of content/media and purpose of use has a more significant impact on addiction (Hong, 2022;Lee and Kim, 2021a;Oh et al, 2020;Song, 2022). Internal factors such as children's temperamental/risk type (Hong, 2022;Kim, 2022;Song, 2022), psychological aspect which includes emotional stability (Hong, 2022;Kim and Jahng, 2021;Kim and Kang, 2022;Kim, 2022;Lee and Mun, 2022), playfulness (Kim and Kang, 2022), self-esteem (Lee and Kim, 2021b;Kim and Park, 2021), and mental health (Jeong et al, 2019;Kim, 2022;Lee and Mun, 2022) were associated with how they interact with and are affected by digital interaction. Meanwhile, external factors such as economy , peer relationships (Ju, 2019;Kim and Kang, 2022), and COVID-19 were also contributing factors which affect children's interaction with digital devices indirectly, impacting their DW.…”