Adolescents’ Accounts of Parental Phubbing: A Qualitative Study from Bengaluru, India

Parental phubbing, whereby parents engage with their smartphones while in the presence of their children, is an emerging concern that may affect parent–child communication and adolescents’ psychosocial well-being. This study explored adolescents’ experiences and perceptions of parental phubbing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 adolescents (10 girls, 7 boys; aged 14–15 years) from one English-medium school in Bengaluru, India, predominantly from upper- and upper-middle-class families, focusing on patterns of social interaction, parental smartphone use, and adolescents’ emotional experiences of being phubbed. The interview data were analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis. Five themes were generated: judging which phone use is acceptable, accepting being second, speaking up, walking away, and imagining oneself as a future parent. From these, we propose a non-linear interpretive map in which acceptance, speaking up or staying silent, and withdrawal are connected by several routes and not by a fixed sequence. The findings illustrate how routine digital behaviour may shape adolescents’ emotional experiences and patterns of engagement with their parents. Attending to this subtle form of digital disruption may help to promote healthier parent–adolescent relationships and family digital well-being.