Monkey see, monkey do: Daily variation in maternal addictive smartphone use longitudinally predicts daily variation in child addictive smartphone use in Hong Kong, China

This study examined whether daily variation in maternal addictive smartphone use predicted daily variation in child addictive smartphone use on the following day and tested child gender as a moderator. Data were collected from 74 fourth graders (mean age = 9.2 years; 69% were girls) and their mothers living in Hong Kong, China. On each of 5 consecutive days, children and mothers completed online questionnaires in the evening about their own smartphone use during the day. A multilevel linear model within the Bayesian framework revealed both within- and between-person associations between maternal and child reports of smartphone use: On days when mothers used smartphones more addictively than usual (compared to their cross-day averages), their children used smartphones more addictively than usual (compared to their cross-day averages) on the following day. Moreover, mothers who generally had more addictive smartphone use (compared to other mothers in the sample) had children who generally had more addictive smartphone use (compared to other children in the sample). Child gender did not emerge as a moderator, however. Findings highlighted the roles of parents in understanding day-to-day variation in children’s addictive smartphone use and the importance of helping parents monitor and manage their smartphone use.