The Effect of Mothers’ Smartphone Addiction on Children’s Media Dependency: Sequentially Mediated by Mothers’ Work-Family Strains and Parental Monitoring

Abstract

Smart devices have become an essential part of human life; however, excessive dependency on these devices has become a serious issue for both children and adults. In this study, a research model was developed which hypothesized that mothers’ smartphone addiction influences children’s media dependency, and that this effect is sequentially mediated by mothers’ work-family strains and parental monitoring. To test this hypothesis, an analysis of data from the 13th Wave of Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC), conducted in 2020, was performed. The data were collected from 726 children (359 boys, 367 girls) with an average age of 12.23 years (SD=.30). The analysis was conducted using SPSS 27.0 and Process MACRO Ver. 4.2. The results were as follows. Maternal smartphone addiction increased mothers’ work-family strains, which in turn lowered the level of parental monitoring, which was associated with an increase in children’s media dependency. Furthermore, mothers’ smartphone addiction had a partial mediation effect on children’s media dependency. In sum, this study revealed that the mothers’ smartphone addiction increased children’s media dependency, and this effect was sequentially mediated by an increase in mothers’ work-family strains and a decrease in parental monitoring. This study verifies that mothers’ smart device usage as well as their working environment has a significant effect on children’s media dependency. Therefore, to increase parental monitoring of children’s media usage, mothers’ work-family strains need to be reduced.