In today's digital era, smartphone use is having a profound effect on family life. There is growing concern about parental phubbing, which occurs when parents ignore their children in favour of using their phones. This study examined how parental phubbing was associated with children's problematic media use (PMU), and problem behaviours (internalizing, externalizing,attention) during middle childhood. The role of the parent-child relationship, measured by closeness and conflict, was also explored given its well-established influence on child development. Participants included 99 parents/guardians of 6-8-year-olds and 87 parents/guardians of 9-12-year-olds. Data on all variables were collected through online surveys. Across both groups, phubbing was associated with children's PMU. Among the 6-8-year-old's, phubbing was also linked to internalizing and externalizing problems. In this age group, parent-child closeness buffered phubbing effects while conflict mediated the relationship between phubbing and children's behaviour. These findings enhance our understanding of parental phubbing within Canadian family contexts.
Author Keywords: Middle Childhood, Parent-Child Relationship, Phubbing, Problem Behaviours, Problematic media use