A Study on the Relationships among Parenting Stress, Smartphone Overdependence, Marital Satisfaction, and Parenting Behavior of Working Parents: Application to Actor-Partner Interdependence Model

Objectives This study examined the actor effects and the partner effects of parental stress of of dual-earner couples on parent's smartphone overdependence, marital satisfaction and parenting behavior. The study also examined whether parenting stress of mothers and fathers affect parenting behavior through the sequential mediation of smartphone overdependence and marital satisfaction. Methods To analyze the data from 826 married couples from the 1st year (2022) of the Korean Early Childhood Education & Care Panel Study were used to perform the Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). Results The results of this study are as follows. First, both the actor and the partner effects of parental stress on marital satisfaction were negatively significant for both mother and father. The actor effect of both mother and father's parental stress on parenting behavior was negatively significant whereas only the partner effect of father's parental stress on mother's parenting behavior was negatively significant. The actor effect of father's smartphone overdependence on marital satisfaction and parenting behavior was negatively significant. The actor effect of father's marital satisfaction on parenting behavior and the partner effect of mother's marital satisfaction on parenting behavior was positively significant. The magnitudes of actor and the partner effect were varied depend on the variables. Second, both mother's and father's parental stress was negatively significant on father's parenting behavior through mediating mother's marital satisfaction and father's smartphone overdependence. Conclusions The results of this study imply that both mother's and father's characteristics should be considered to enhance the positive father's parenting behavior.