Relationships Among Preschoolers' Smartphone Addiction Tendency, Their Problem Behaviors, and Parenting Efficacy of Their Mothers

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among preschoolers' smartphone addiction tendency, problem behaviors, and parenting efficacy of the mothers of these children. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive study design was used with self-administered questionnaires. A total of 83 mothers of preschoolers aged 4-6 years and their preschool teachers from a kindergarten participated in the study. RESULTS: Mean daily time spent by the preschoolers on smartphones was about 45 minutes/day. About 40% spent more than 60 minutes/day on smartphones. The majority (69.8%) used smartphones without adult supervision. The level of smartphone addiction tendency among the preschoolers was 1.52+/-0.45 on a 4-point scale. Preschoolers whose mothers use smartphones for more than 60 minutes/day showed a higher level of smartphone addiction tendency than preschoolers whose mothers use smartphones for less than 60 minutes/day. Also smartphone addiction tendency among preschoolers had a positive correlation with hyperactive-distractible behavior (r=.228, p=.038) and a negative correlation with parenting efficacy of their mothers (r=-.299, p=.006). CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated that preschooler's smartphone addiction tendency is significantly associated with hyperactive-distractible behaviors of the children and low parenting efficacy among their mothers. Therefore well-designed care plans for these populations should be provided to decrease smartphone addiction tendency.