Systematic review finds parental smartphone use triggers distress and physiological dysregulation in infants, indicating that technoference impairs dyadic co-regulation.
This systematic review synthesizes the scientific evidence regarding digital interruptions in dyadic interaction and the socio-emotional development of infants (0-24 months). Synthesizing 16 empirical studies, findings indicate that parental smartphone use acts as an interactive stressor, evoking immediate infant behavioral distress (increased negative affect, protest, and gaze aversion) alongside physiological disruptions, including reduced infant parasympathetic activity and decreased inter-brain synchrony in theta and alpha bands. In routine contexts such as feeding, digital distraction reduces maternal visual contact and sensitivity to infant cues. Furthermore, habitual exposure to technoference correlates with poorer post-interruption emotional recovery. In conclusion, available evidence provides preliminary indications that parental technoference temporarily disrupts dyadic co-regulation and behavioral scaffolding, though methodological heterogeneity underscores the need for prospective replication and longitudinal tracking.
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Vélez et al. (2026) studied this question.
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