Beyond Screen Time: A Synergistic Approach to a More Comprehensive Assessment of Family Media Exposure During Early Childhood

Relationship Between Family Technoference and Behavior Problems in Children Aged 4-5 Years

Digital media (DM) is omnipresent in society today and impacts every aspect of our life. Previous studies have shown DM to cause problems in interpersonal relationships by creating problematic interruptions in interactions, this has been termed technoference. The current study focuses on parent's self-rated perceived technoference and the rated behavior of their 4- to 5-year-old children. Parents (N = 153) filled out an online questionnaire regarding family DM use and technoference as well as questions regarding their child's behavior. Parents rated the level of technoference caused by their own use of DM as well as the rate of technoference caused by the child's use of DM. Parents were also asked questions regarding their own possible problematic cell phone use. The findings reveal a statistically significant contribution of technoference, caused by the parents' use of DM, to the behavior repertoire of the children.