Poster #146 - Smartphone use and Sensitivity in Mothers of Young Infants.

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

The use of digital devices such as the smartphone is increasing, also within the family life. Concerns have repeatedly been raised about potential negative consequences for ‘real-life’ social interactions, including parent-child interactions. Attachment theory states that early interactions with a sensitive, responsive and predictable caregiver are essential for the development of a secure attachment relationship, and empirical studies have consistently shown that parental sensitivity plays an important role for many aspects of child social-emotional development. The habitual use of smartphones while taking care of a young child may divert mothers’ attention away from the infant, which may disrupt the ability to pick up signals of the child and react to them in a sensitive way. Furthermore, it has been suggested that maternal behavior while using a smartphone may be experienced by the infant as unavailable and unpredictable, almost similar to symptoms of depression, a known risk-factor for disrupting maternal sensitivity. Despite these worries, empirical studies examining associations between habitual smartphone use and mother-child interactive quality are still scarce.
We conducted a pilot study to examine smartphone use and mother-child interaction in 23 Danish mothers and their 3-7 months old infants (Table 1). We hypothesized that more time spent on the smartphone would be associated with lower interactive quality and in particular less maternal sensitivity.
Mothers were recruited via social media and through flyers handed out in activity clubs for new parents. Data was collected during home visits using a standardized protocol. After completion of informed consent declarations, mothers filled in questionnaires regarding background information and depressive symptoms. We then videotaped mothers and infants during 10 minutes of free play. Finally, mothers received instruction for filling in a baby diary and the app for smartphone use registration was installed. Mothers’ smartphone use was registered through digital logging and the infants’ states (a sleep or a wake) were reported in the baby diaries. This information was used to calculate the amount of time mothers spent using the smartphone while being with the infant, when the infant was awake. Maternal, child and dyadic behaviors during free-play were rated from video-recordings by a certified coder using the “Coding Interactive Behavior” system.
Linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between maternal smartphone use and several maternal, child, and dyadic behavioral indices during free-play. Analyses showed that more time spent on the smartphone use significantly associated with lower levels of mother-infant interaction quality, even when controlling for maternal depressive symptoms and socioeconomic status. Specifically, more time spent using the smartphone was significantly related to lower maternal sensitivity and showed trends for associations with higher maternal overriding behavior and lower dyadic reciprocity. No association was found between mothers’ amount of smartphone use and the infants’ behavior in the interaction (Table 2).
The findings of this pilot-study encourage follow-up studies, e.g. to clarify the direction of this association and potential consequences for children’s behavior and well-being. Also, potential positive effects of maternal smartphone use for parenting behavior such as parenting self-efficacy should be examined.

Authors

• Anna H. Mortensen, Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, University of Copenhagen
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elin M. Binder, Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, University of Copenhagen
  Non-Presenting Author

• Anne Tharner, Department of Clinical Child and family Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  Presenting Author

• Mette Vaever, Department of Psychology, Babylab, University of Copenhagen
  Non-Presenting Author