Background: Research has shown that parents often display a still face when they are reading their cell phones and responding to texts. These interruptions in parent-child interactions are defined as technoference. Professionals observe these frequent interruptions with concern. They are worried, that smartphone use could negatively influence toddlers’ social-emotional functioning. Method: In this study, we investigated how mother-child, and father-child interactions change before, during, and after interruptions caused by texting, using a modified naturalistic still face paradigm. We specifically compared how interruptions from either maternal or paternal smartphone use versus an analog medium affect the quality of interactions between mothers and fathers (n=196) and their 22-months-old children. Results: Both the analog and the digital interruption produced aspects of the Still-Face effect, such as negative affect, increase in self-regulation and seeking of physical contact for co-regulation in the child. However, we were able to identify differences in behavioral and emotional reaction category between both conditions. Furthermore, parental behavior during the Still-Face phase also has a significant influence on children’s behaviors. Conclusion: These findings complete previous research that has tended to conclude that smartphone interruptions lead to toddlers’ distress. These results help us to gain a more specific understanding of how children deal with smartphone interruptions of interaction. Eventhough, toddlers experience many instances of technoference, it was possible to show that they notice them, react to them and try to come to terms with them.
Wyl et al. (Tue,) studied this question.