Abstract
Children and adolescents today grow up surrounded by devices with electronic screens, such as televisions, computers, tablets and smartphones. Smartphones - being portable devices - can be used almost anywhere and at any time, may interfere with daily routines, and bear the risk of excessive and addictive use.
Parents are therefore prompted to regulate SU in their children. We will introduce currently available (pediatric) guidelines for parental regulation of smartphone use (SU) and discuss them in the context of our research study on parental views on SU during personal and family routines.
Main aim of the study was to identify routines in which parents dislike smartphone use, and to estimate the frequency of children's and adolescents' SU during these routines based on parental reports. Online survey was conducted in October 2022 with a representative sample of 826 Czech parents.
Parental views on their children's SU during fourteen family (e.g., family mealtimes, family trip) and personal (e.g., bedtime, homework, commuting) routines were assessed using five ordered categories (from "I would not mind it" to "I could not stand it"), parental estimates of the frequency of their children's SU during each routine were reported (never, sometimes, often), as well as sociodemographic and other variables (e.g., parental warmth and control). In case of eleven (out of fourteen proposed) routines, SU was rather or strongly disliked by parents.
The dislike was the strongest for SU during bedtime, studying (or whether a child is supposed to focus on something else), cultural performance (e.g., theatre), and when a parent is trying to say something important to his/her child. Parents reported the occurrence of SU during bedtime in 33% of children (6-10 years) and 58% of adolescents (11-18 years), during studying in 31% of children and 63% of adolescents, and when a parent is trying to say something important in 39% of children and 49% of adolescents.
The occasional use during other routines was relatively common, especially among adolescents. Guidelines for families on how to regulate SU should reflect and address the predominantly negative parental views on SU during routines.
The initiation and the moderation of family dialogue on SU by family care and/or prevention professionals could be important to prevent parental frustration and family conflicts over SU as well as excessive and problematic SU.