Mother-child Attachment Research Articles

Intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment: The role of maternal emotional dysregulation and mother–child attachment.

Intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment: The role of maternal emotional dysregulation and mother–child attachment.

Comparing the effectiveness of child-centered cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) and mother-child attachment therapy on the symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder

Objective: This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of child-centered cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) and mother-child attachment therapy on the symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder. Method: In terms of the purpose of the present research, it was a quasi-experiment with a pre-test and post-test design with two experimental groups and a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the research included all children aged 10 to 12 years who referred to a counseling center in the 8th district of Tehran in 2022, 30 people were randomly selected in two experimental groups (10 people each) and one group Control (10 people) were assigned. The research tools include the Children’s Symptoms Inventory (CSI-4), child-centered cognitive behavioral therapy protocol based on Kendall & Hedtke's coping cat program (2006) and mother-child attachment-based therapy (MCAT) protocol derived from Purnell (2004) and King & Newham (2008). Results: The findings indicate that both treatments were effective on oppositional defiant disorder. The efficacy of both was stable in the follow-up phase according to the Bonferroni post hoc test. The results of data analysis show that there is no significant difference between their effectiveness and both are equally effective (p<0.05). Conclusion: It can be concluded that MCAT and CCBT were effective in the treatment of children's oppositional defiant disorder. Therefore, it is suggested that specialists use these two approaches in therapy.

Comparison of Efficacy of Child Cognitive – Behavioral Therapy (CCBT) Versus Family Cognitive – Behavioral Therapy (FCBT) and Mother - Child Attachment Intervention in Reduction of Separation Anxiety Disorder in Children between 7-12 Years Old

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of child-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CCBT), family-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (FCBT) and mother-child attachment intervention in reducing separation anxiety in children aged 7 to 12 years. Methods and Materials: The method of this semi-experimental study was pre-test-post-test with a control group and a three-month follow-up. For this purpose, 48 children with separation anxiety disorder were selected by purposive sampling and were divided into four groups of 12 people. The first group received child-based cognitive behavioral therapy, the second group received family-based cognitive behavioral therapy, the third group received mother-child attachment intervention, and the control group did not receive any intervention. The measurement tools of this research include the semi-structured diagnostic interview of mood disorders and schizophrenia for children and adolescents (K-SADS-PL) and Separation Anxiety Scale (Parental Form). The data were analyzed using mixed variance analysis with repeated measurement and Bonferroni's post hoc test. Findings: The findings show that child-centered cognitive-behavioral therapy has been more successful in reducing separation anxiety compared to family-centered cognitive-behavioral therapy and mother-child attachment-centered intervention. Also, family-centered cognitive-behavioral therapy has been more effective in reducing children's separation anxiety compared to mother-child attachment-centered intervention (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the present study show that the therapeutic methods used can be effective in the treatment of separation anxiety disorder by psychologists and psychiatrists.

A Family Systems Perspective on Attachment Security and Dependency to Mother and Father in Preschool: Differential and Reciprocal Effects on Children's Emotional and Behavioral Problems.

Attachment security and dependency play a decisive role for children's mental health. From a family systems perspective, reciprocal effects of dyadic attachment to each parent within the same family on child symptomatology may well offer additional insights in developmental processes as parents and children influence each other consistently. This study examined the influence of child-mother as well as child-father attachment security and dependency on maternal, paternal, and observed ratings of children's emotional and behavioral problems. A total of 124 families with preschool children participated in this study. Attachment security, dependency, and symptomatology of the children were independently observed during home visits. Furthermore, mothers and fathers rated child symptoms. Results revealed promotive effects of attachment security to both parents on observed child symptoms. Furthermore, we found a significant actor effect of child-mother attachment security, as well as a significant partner effect of child-father dependency on maternal ratings of child symptomatology. Attachment security to both parents is promotive for child mental health. The family systems perspective clarifies the meaning of child-father relationships for maternal perception of the own child.

The Effect of Mother Phubbing on Young Children's Emotional and Behavioral Problems: A Moderated Mediation Model of Mother-Child Attachment and Parenting Stress.

Phubbing-the act of ignoring someone physically present in favor of a mobile phone-is increasingly prevalent in families, and mothers' phubbing behaviors may have a particularly important effect on young children's development. Accordingly, this study explores the mediating role of mother-child attachment in the relationship between mother phubbing and children's emotional and behavioral problems, as well as the role of maternal parenting stress in moderating the mediation effect. A total of 988 mothers of young children (mean age = 4.93, SD = 0.94) were surveyed using four scales, and the resulting data was statistically analyzed. The study found that (1) mother phubbing was significantly and positively correlated with children's emotional and behavioral problems (r = 0.19, p < 0.01), (2) mother-child attachment mediated the relationship between mother phubbing and children's emotional and behavioral problems, and (3) the relationship between mother-child attachment and children's emotional and behavioral problems was moderated by maternal parenting stress. The present study offers fresh evidence of how mother phubbing affects young children's emotional and behavioral difficulties. The need to reduce maternal parental stress and buffer mothers from its effects are highlighted as vital factors in promoting secure mother-child attachment and alleviating young children's problems.

An evaluation of parental attitudes and attachment in children with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis: A case-control study

Enuresis is a common childhood disorder associated with the lack of bladder control that would be expected based on the child's age or developmental stage. Enuresis affects the lives of both children and their parents due to the burden it entails in daily life. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the dimensions of attachment between children with enuresis and their mothers, as well as the relationship with parental attitudes. This study included 70 children were diagnosed with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (PMNE) based on the guidelines of the International Children's Continence Society (ICCS) along with 70 children with not enuresis and any psychiatric disorders. We asked the mothers of all participants to complete the Parental Attitude Research Instrument, and the children to complete The Experiences in Close Relationships Scale Revised - Middle Childhood. Both groups in our study were well balanced in terms of gender, age, and sociodemographic data. Children with enuresis were found to score higher on the anxiety and avoidance dimensions of the attachment scale with statistical significance (p<0.01). Also, on the scale completed by the mothers of children with enuresis, the subtests indicating overprotective parenting and strict discipline presented significant differences (p<0.01). Data obtained in our study demonstrate that enuresis can have a negative effect on the mother-child attachment and parental attitudes. The use of harsh language or punishment by the mother in response to the failure of the child to achieve nocturnal dryness may affect the attachment between the mother and the child, and cause the child to experience negative emotions such as shame, anxiety, embarrassment, frustration, and loneliness. We think that it would be useful to evaluate the mother-child attachment and the crisis experienced by the family after each wetting incidence in combination with parental attitudes and behaviors in the treatment of enuresis cases.

Maternal stress and vulnerability to depression: coping and maternal care strategies and its consequences on adolescent offspring

Depressive mothers often find mother-child interaction to be challenging. Maternal stress may further impair mother-child attachment, which may increase the risk of negative developmental consequences. We used rats with different vulnerability to depressive-like behavior (Wistar and Kyoto) to investigate the impact of stress (maternal separation-MS) on maternal behavior and adolescent offspring cognition. MS in Kyoto dams increased pup-contact, resulting in higher oxytocin levels and lower anxiety-like behavior after weaning, while worsening their adolescent offspring cognitive behavior. Whereas MS in Wistar dams elicited higher quality of pup-directed behavior, increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the offspring, which seems to have prevented a negative impact on cognition. Hypothalamic oxytocin seems to affect the salience of the social environment cues (negatively for Kyoto) leading to different coping strategies. Our findings highlight the importance of contextual and individual factors in the understanding of the oxytocin role in modulating maternal behavior and stress regulatory processes.

Good enough residential care setting: Child-parent contact and youth adjustment in the context of staff attitudes towards parent involvement

The importance of parent-child contact to the well-being of children in residential care is emphasized in child welfare literature. However, despite the central role of youth care workers in the lives of children in residential care settings (RCSs), there is a lack of research on the role of RCS staff in child-parent contact. This study, based on the reports of 240 youth, aged 14 to 18, in therapeutic RCSs for children at risk in Israel, examined the link between frequency of contact and quality of attachment between mothers and adolescents and adolescents’ emotional-behavioral difficulties, and the moderating role of RCS youth care workers’ attitudes towards mother involvement in that link. The findings show a negative relationship between adolescents’ emotional-behavioral difficulties and their perceived quality of attachment to their mother. Frequency of contact was found to be non-significantly linked with adolescent difficulties. The attitudes of RCS staff towards mother involvement moderated the relationship between quality of mother-child contact and adolescents’ adjustment difficulties, so that among youth who reported a more positive attitude of the staff towards mothers’ involvement, the relationship between the quality of child-mother attachment and fewer adjustment difficulties among adolescents was stronger. The study has implications for designing interventions and training RCS staff to enhance child-parent contact while in care.

The moderating role of neighborhood social cohesion on the relationship between early mother-child attachment security and adolescent social skills: Brief report.

Social skill is a critical asset for adolescents, and early mother-child attachment is an essential contributor to their development. While less secure mother-child attachment is a known risk factor for adolescent social development, the protective factor of neighborhood context in buffering this risk is still not well understood. This study used longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n = 1,876). Adolescent social skills (at age 15) were examined as a function of early attachment security and neighborhood social cohesion (age 3). Children with higher mother-child attachment security at age three had higher adolescent social skills at age 15. The findings show that there was an interaction effect such that neighborhood social cohesion buffered the relationship between mother-child attachment security and adolescent social skills. Our study highlights that early mother-child attachment security can be promotive for cultivating adolescent social skills. Furthermore, neighborhood social cohesion can be protective among children with lower mother-child attachment security.

Do child-father and child-mother preschool insecure attachment types predict the development of externalizing behaviors in boys and girls during middle childhood?

Past meta-analyses show that both child-mother and child-father attachment insecurity are independently and jointly associated with more externalizing behaviors in children. Little is known, however, on the ways that different types of insecure attachment independently and jointly predict the development of externalizing behaviors over time. Existing work also neglects the impact of children's gender within the context of child-father relationships. The current study addresses these limitations by investigating how insecure type of child-father attachment, child-mother attachment, and their interaction in the preschool years predict boys' and girls' externalizing behaviors in middle childhood, when controlling for children's externalizing behaviors in the preschool years. The sample included 144 preschool-aged children (M = 46.89 months, SD = 8.77, 83 girls) and both of their parents. At Time 1, children completed independent separation-reunion procedures with each parent, which were coded using the Preschool Attachment Rating Scales. At Time 1 and Time 2 (5 years later), mothers and fathers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to report on their children's externalizing behaviors. Results showed no systematic differences in the way that child-mother and child-father attachment predicted the development of externalizing behaviors in boys and girls. Across all children, results identified an interaction of child-father and child-mother ambivalence, by which the presence of ambivalence toward both parents predicted the development of more externalizing behaviors. In addition, child-father controlling-caregiving attachment predicted the development of fewer externalizing behaviors. These results provide insight into the ways that insecure child-father and child-mother attachment predict later socioemotional adaptation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Aggression in Adolescents: The Role of Mother-Child Attachment and Self-Esteem.

Every year, adolescents’ aggressive behavior in the world continues to increase, including in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Teenagers’ aggressive behavior in Yogyakarta leads to criminal acts resulting in physical sacrifices and death. The aggressive behavior of teenagers is known as Klithih. It develops and continues to increase every year, causing public anxiety and concern. This study aimed to examine the role of mother–child attachment and self-esteem against aggression. Aggression, mother’s attachment, and self-esteem scales were deployed to collect data and were filled out by 730 high school students between 15 and 19 years old from twenty-three schools in five municipalities in Yogyakarta Province (M = 16.52, SD = 0.793, 310 male students and 420 female students). Descriptive statistics described research data by IBM SPSS 23 and structural equation modeling by AMOS v20 to test research hypotheses. The results of the study showed a good fit, indicating that self-esteem might enhance the effect of each mother’s attachment style on aggression. Our study showed that insecure attachment positively and significantly affected aggression and negatively and significantly affected self-esteem. Furthermore, it also revealed that anxious attachment positively and significantly influenced aggression and negatively and significantly influenced self-esteem. Lastly, our finding revealed that self-esteem negatively and significantly affected aggression. These findings suggested that better mother’s attachment and higher self-esteem in adolescents may lower the possibility of aggression, whereas insecure attachment, anxious attachment, and low self-esteem may increase the risk of aggression.

Characterization of Depressive Symptom Trajectories in Women between Childbirth and Diagnosis

The inhomogeneity of postpartum mood and mother–child attachment was estimated from immediately after childbirth to 12 weeks postpartum in a cohort of 598 young mothers. At 3-week intervals, depressed mood and mother–child attachment were assessed using the EPDS and the MPAS, respectively. The diagnosis was based on clinical interviews at the end of the 12-week follow-up. The latent class mixed model estimated multiple distinct patterns in depressed mood and mother–child attachment. The baseline EPDS cluster contained 72% of the study population and showed low EPDS values during the follow-up period, while the five remaining clusters showed either deterioration or improvement of the EPDS levels. The majority of women with postpartum depression showed deteriorating, and the majority of adjustment disorder cases improving, behavior. While the cases with more pronounced EPDS values were found to constitute more homogeneous clusters in terms of diagnosis, subclinical or only temporarily increased EPDS levels represented less homogeneous clusters. Higher EPDS levels correlated with the higher risk factor profiles. The four MPAS/EPDS clusters demonstrated that higher EPDS lead to lower mother–child attachment, and vice versa.

Toddler-mother attachment moderates adolescents' behavioral and neural evaluation of trustworthiness.

This longitudinal study examined the prospective association between toddler–mother attachment to adolescents’ (n = 52; 34 boys; Mage = 13.22 years; 90% White) behavioral and neural responses during the evaluation of trustworthiness from unfamiliar, emotionally neutral faces. At 33 months, toddler–mother attachment status (secure vs insecure classification) was assessed using a modified Strange Situation procedure. Results revealed that attachment moderated the processing of trustworthiness facial cues. As faces became less trustworthy, adolescents with a secure (vs insecure) attachment history rated the faces as correspondingly less trustworthy and showed increasing (vs overall blunted) activation in brain regions involved in trustworthiness perception (i.e. bilateral amygdala, bilateral fusiform, right anterior insula and right posterior superior temporal sulcus). Findings suggest that a secure compared with insecure child–mother attachment in toddlerhood may be associated with greater capacity for, or openness to, processing potentially negative social information at both the behavioral and neural levels during adolescence.

The effect of lavender on mothers sleep quality in the postpartum period: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Poor sleep quality in the postpartum period can have various negative effects on the health of mothers and infants such as anxiety, depression, low breastfeeding self-efficacy and disrupted child-mother attachment. Accordingly, intervention seems necessary to improve sleep quality. Given the probable effect of lavender on sleep problems, the present research intended to determine its effects on mothers' sleep quality during postpartum period. The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus databases and the Persian language databases (Magiran and SID) were searched for all the articles they included at the end of February 2021. The risk of bias of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane tool. The results of the meta-analysis were reported as the standardized mean difference (SMD). Heterogeneity of the studies was investigated using the I-squared test (I2). Three out of the 292 obtained studies entered the meta-analysis. The results indicated that sleep quality in the group receiving lavender improved compared to the control group, (SMD = -0.61; 95% CI: -1.07 to -015 p = 0.01) whereas the heterogeneity was higher. (I2 = 75%; Tau2 = 012; Chi2 = 7.905, p = 0.02). According to the results of this systematic review, use of lavender can improve postpartum maternal sleep quality. However, further randomized controlled trials using identical methodology, larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods are needed.

An application of the Biobehavioral Family Model: Examining the impact of maternal depression on child asthma mediated by insecure attachment and child depression.

Child asthma disparities are prevalent in socio-economically stressed single-parent families. Stress impacts childhood asthma mediated by immune and autonomic pathways, but specific family stress pathways are not well established. This study tests the hypothesis, derived from a version of the Biobehavioral Family Model, that single parent maternal depression impacts child asthma mediated by insecure attachment and child depression. In a cross-sectional study, children with asthma (age 7-17years old) from a socio-economically disadvantaged population and their single parent mothers (N=202) were assessed for depression and attachment security. Child asthma disease activity was assessed by symptom report and lung function tests. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test a model in which caregiver depression impacts child asthma disease activity mediated by insecure attachment and child depression. SEM results indicated that maternal depression statistically predicted child depression (β=0.21, p<0.01) and insecure mother-child attachment (β=0.17, p<0.05). In addition, insecure attachment statistically predicted child depression (β=0.50, p<0.001). Child depression mediated the adverse effects of maternal depression and insecure attachment on child asthma disease activity (β=0.43, p<0.01). There was no direct effect of insecure attachment on child asthma. In single-parent families, maternal depression may impact child asthma disease activity, mediated serially by insecure attachment and child depression. Longitudinal and/or intervention studies are needed to establish a causal effect. These findings suggest that caregiver depression and parent-child relationships may be important targets for family intervention. These interventions may help improve child asthma outcomes and reduce health disparities.

The effect of a coping program on mothers' grief following perinatal deaths.

Mother-child attachment is formed from early stages of pregnancy and peaks in the second trimester and continues until after childbirth. The fetal or neonatal death as a tragic event could lead to the grief experience among parents, especially mothers. The present study aimed to determine the effect of a coping program on mothers' grief following perinatal deaths. This trial study was performed on 56 women with the experience of perinatal death during the last 1-3 months with a score of Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS) ≥91, who were referred to the health centers of Tabriz, Iran, from September 2020 to June 2021. Participants were randomly assigned into the intervention and control groups through stratified blocking on the basis of the stillbirth and neonatal death using Random Allocation Software with a block size of 4 and 6 with a ratio of 1:1. The intervention group received a coping program individually during three sessions, once a week for 45-60 min. Data collection tools included the demographic and obstetric characteristic questionnaire and PGS. The data were analyzed using SPSS24. The groups were compared through t-test, and ANCOVA after adjusting the effect of baseline score. Prior to coping program, the mean standard deviation of the grief total score was 108.32 (14.31) in the intervention group and 107.92 (6.65) in the control group (P = 0.89). After coping program, the mean of the grief total score was 82.28 (16.72) in the intervention group and 101.05 (12.78) in the control group. After adjusting the effect of baseline score and stratified factors, the mean of the grief total score in the intervention group was significantly lower than that in the control group [Adjusted mean difference (AMD): -18.77, 95% confidence interval: -26.79 to - 10.75, P ≤ 0.001]. Conducting a coping program during 1-3 months after experiencing perinatal deaths is effective in reducing the mothers' grief reactions. It is recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of the same intervention after perinatal deaths for both parents with a longer follow-up period in further studies.

Child-father attachment in early childhood and behavior problems: A meta-analysis.

This meta-analytic study examined the associations between child-father attachment in early childhood and children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Based on 15 samples (N=1,304 dyads), the association between child-father attachment insecurity and externalizing behaviors was significant and moderate in magnitude (r=0.18, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.27 or d=0.37, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.55). No moderators of this association were identified. Based on 12 samples (N=1,073), the association between child-father attachment insecurity and internalizing behaviors was also significant, albeit smaller in magnitude (r=0.09, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.15; or d=0.17, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.31). Between-study heterogeneity was insufficient to consider moderators. When compared to the effect sizes of prior meta-analyses on child-mother attachment and behavior problems, the quality of the attachment relationship with fathers yields a similar magnitude of associations to children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results support the need to consider the role of the attachment network, which notably includes attachment relationships to both fathers and mothers, to understand how attachment relationships contribute to child development.

Child’s attachment to mother as a predictor of psychological well-being in primary school age

Introduction. The attachment is viewed as the base for assessment of individual adaptation variation throughout life. In the capacity of the core indicator of the person’s unison with external environment, the psychological well-being combines the different aspects of child life. The assessment of the psychological well-being is based on three indicators: evidence of life satisfaction; life quality assessment; difficulty levels of external and internal spectrum.The aim of the current publication is to investigate the influence of features of attachment to mother on psychological well-being of primary school-age children.Methodology and research methods. The methodological research framework was based on the main provisions of the attachment theory (J. Bowlby, M. Ainsworth). “Mother-Child Attachment Style Measure Questionnaire” method (Pupyreva, 2007) was employed to identify attachment features. The measure of psychological well-being was carried out by means of “Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale” (Toporkova, Slobodskaya et al., 2015), “Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory” and “Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire” (Goodman, Slobodskaya, Knyazev, 2005) methods. 178 primary school-age children (85 boys and 93 girls) aged 10 to 11 (mean age = 10.2) participated in the research.Results. The analysis of the results showed that secure attachment among children reduces life satisfaction, facilitates the behavioural disorders and psycho-emotional reactions, impacts on limitation of social contacts and life quality. Using the regression analysis, it was revealed that the quality of the correlation between attachment indicators and psychological well-being vary depending on degree of attachment security. It is demonstrated that maternal responsiveness and attentiveness is an absolute predictor of life satisfaction, physical and social well-being and life quality in the primary school-age period, irrespective of the child’s attachment types. The absence of mother-child closeness is the predictor for disruption of physical, emotional and social functioning, low level of life quality in insecure attachment in primary school-aged children.Scientific novelty. The specificity of psychological well-being of primary school-aged children with different types of attachment to their mother is determined. It is shown for the first time that characteristics of attachment are the predictors of life satisfaction, quality of life, and mental health of primary school-aged children.Practical significance. By identifying different regression models for the description of psychological well-being on the basis of child-mother attachment indicators, it may be possible to provide interventions to improve psychological well-being based on the characteristics of attachment.

School readiness of five-year-old children from socio-economically disadvantaged areas: evidence from the Preparing for Life evaluation

Being school-ready when transitioning to the primary school system has been associated with favourable outcomes during schooling and adult life. While children living in socio-economically disadvantaged areas may be at a higher risk of being less school-ready, research in the area has highlighted that not all children experience such a delay. This study examined a range of factors that may account for differences in outcomes across five school readiness domains (physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communications skills and general knowledge) within a sample of children living in socio-economically disadvantaged areas. Drawing on data from a sample of five-year-old children involved in the Preparing for Life (PFL) evaluation in Ireland, this study explored the role of child and early environmental factors in facilitating or hindering children’s development across these school readiness domains. Statistical analysis identified child’s sex, parental involvement and learning materials at home, parent–child interactions, mother’s attempt to breastfeed, and mother–child attachment as significant predictors of school readiness after accounting for other factors. Findings contribute to the Irish and international literature on the role of early demographical and environmental factors in shaping school readiness, especially for children from socio-economically disadvantaged areas.

Social learning in the digital age: Associations between technoference, mother-child attachment, and child social skills

Technoference refers to incidents in which technology use interferes with interpersonal exchanges (e.g., conversations, playing). Although research on technoference is in its infancy, there is preliminary evidence that mothers believe technoference has a detrimental impact on the social-emotional functioning of their child. The current study investigated the degree to which technoference was associated with attachment between mothers and their elementary-aged children. A second aim was to determine if the relationship between technoference and children's social-emotional functioning may be moderated by mother-child attachment. Surveys were completed by a sample of 80 mothers and their elementary-aged children. This study is unique in asking elementary-aged children to report their perceptions of parental technoference and the impact it has on their relationship with their mother and their own social-emotional functioning. More frequent technoference was associated with less secure mother-child attachment as rated by children, but not as rated by mothers. That is, frequent technoference may not significantly influence a mother's attachment to their child, but it is associated with a child's attachment to their mother. More frequent technoference was associated with decreased ratings by mothers regarding their child's social-emotional functioning. Furthermore, maternal attachment moderated the relationship between technoference and child externalizing behaviors, such that a more secure attachment served as a protective factor against the negative impact of technoference on child externalizing behaviors. However, attachment did not moderate the relationship between technoference and most social skills assessed in our study. Implications from this study are discussed, including ways to increase awareness of technoference among school personnel, parents, and youth.