Smartphones have become an integral part of daily life, yet their widespread use has raised growing concerns about problematic smartphone use. Using cross-sectional survey data from 980 Korean parent – child dyads with children aged 6 to 8 who use smartphones, this study examined how parents’ problematic smartphone use (PSU) is associated with children’s PSU through parental negative parenting behaviors and parental self-regulation. The findings revealed that both parental excessive smartphone use and parental smartphone dependency were positively associated with negative parenting behaviors and negatively associated with parental self-regulation, with parental smartphone dependency showing a stronger association. Moreover, negative parenting behaviors were positively associated with both children’s excessive smartphone use and smartphone dependency, whereas parental self-regulation was negatively associated with both outcomes. This study highlights the potential intergenerational associations of PSU and underscores the importance of fostering healthier parental smartphone habits to mitigate PSU among young children.
Kim et al. (Thu,) studied this question.