Digital devices use by school-aged children and attachment: what’s the deal ?

Abstract

The increase of digital devices in family life leads to growing concerns about their use by both parents and children. When occurring during shared time, digital devices use might interfere with parent-child interactions. Labelled as technoference by McDaniel and Coyne (2016), the interruption of exchanges due to digital media conducted to more behavioral difficulties in children, and conversely. Affecting parental attention, the technoference could also be associated with insecure attachment. This study aims to explore the links between child attachment and digital device use. Participants were 70 parent-child dyads (14 fathers and 56 mothers; 38 boys and 32 girls) recruited in schools, libraries, daycare centers, pediatric offices, leisure centers and via social media (Facebook, Twitter). Children were aged from 76 to 155 months (M=111.37, SD=20.60). Data were collected anonymously after obtaining parent’s and child’s consents. Participants completed questionnaires on 1) digital technologies use: parent’s and child’s screen use; 2) child’s problematic media use; 3) child’s attachment perceptions; 4) socio-demographic data (e.g. income and level of education). Our results revealed a link between child’s problematic digital devices use and child attachment disorganization. Both child’s problematic media use and attachment disorganization were also linked with parental preoccupation regarding child’s behaviors, feeling and relationship. Our findings suggested that children with disorganized attachment might experience greater difficulties to regulated media use. Problematic media use could also interfere with parent-child difficulties and increase child insecurity. Difficulties in self-regulation could partly explain the association between child insecure attachment and problematic media use.