Parental Smartphone Addiction and Child Social Avoidance: the Moderated Parallel Mediation of Parent-Child Relationship

Jingjing Zhu, Jiayu Luo, Junyang Feng and Yan Li ()
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Jingjing Zhu: Shanghai Normal University
Jiayu Luo: Shanghai Normal University
Junyang Feng: Shanghai Normal University
Yan Li: Shanghai Normal University

Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2025, vol. 20, issue 4, No 6, 1493-1516

Abstract: Abstract Employing a moderated parallel mediation model, this study investigated the influence mechanism of parental smartphone addiction on children’s social avoidance among 1586 parent-child dyads (Mage =51.19 months, SD = 13.49) in Shanghai, China. The results revealed that: (1) maternal smartphone addiction positively predicted children’s social avoidance; (2) mother-child closeness and mother-child conflict significantly mediated the relationship between maternal smartphone addiction and children’s social avoidance, accounting for 13.33% and 45% of the total effect, respectively; (3) mother-child conflict moderated the relationship between paternal smartphone addiction and children’s social avoidance, with the association being significant only when mother-child conflict was below 1.65 SD. Both mother-child conflict and mother-child closeness moderated the relationship between father-child closeness and children’s social avoidance, with the association being significant only when mother-child conflict was above 0.002 SD and mother-child closeness was below − 1.40 SD. These findings suggest that enhancing parent-child closeness and reducing parent-child conflict may buffer the adverse effects of parental smartphone addiction on children’s social avoidance.

Keywords: Parental smartphone addiction; Social avoidance; Parent-child relationship; Preschool; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11482-025-10477-3

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