Ana Žulec Ivanković

This study investigates the relationship between children’s acceptability of smartphone use during family interactions, their actual usage behavior, and the perceived negative consequences on family dynamics. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Technology Acceptance Model, it hypothesizes that higher acceptability leads to more frequent smartphone use and, subsequently, to more negative consequences during family interactions. A longitudinal design was employed with data collected across four waves from 284 children aged 11 to 15. Children self-reported their perceptions of smartphone use acceptability (wave 2), their smartphone use behavior (wave 3), and the consequences of such use in parent-child interactions (wave 4). Structural equation modeling revealed no direct effect of acceptability on negative consequences but demonstrated significant indirect effects through actual smartphone use behavior, particularly in indirect family interactions. Findings underscore that children's perceived acceptability of smartphone use contributes to usage patterns that may disrupt family communication, especially in contexts where attention is shared but not focused. The results highlight the importance of addressing both cognitive and behavioral aspects of digital media use in family life and suggest the need for educational interventions aimed at promoting mindful smartphone use among children and their families.

This study aimed to examine the associations between parents’ smartphone use during conversations with children, children’s emotional and behavioral reactions to parents’ smartphone use, and children’s well-being. This study was conducted on a sample of 284 children (aged 10 to 15 years, with a mean age of 12.23 in 2021; 40.2% boys). The data come from a four-wave longitudinal study (2021–2023) within the project D.E.C.I.D.E. Children reported how often their parents use smartphones during conversations with them (second wave), their emotions and behaviors related to parents’ smartphone use (third wave), and their subjective well-being (fourth wave). A proposed model was tested in which the frequency of parents’ smartphone use during parent–child conversations was a predictor, different children’s emotional and behavioral reactions to parents’ smartphone use were mediators, and children’s well-being was the criterion. The results showed that more frequent parents’ smartphone use is associated with more frequent children’s experiences of anger and sadness in situations when parents use smartphones while with children, which is linked to lower children’s well-being. More frequent parents’ smartphone use is associated with more giving up on seeking parents’ attention among children, which is related to lower well-being.

This study aimed to examine the associations between parents’ difficulties in emotion regulation, risk for smartphone addiction, and interruptions of parent-child interactions. The sample comprised 281 parents (80.9% mothers) who participated in the project “Digital technology in the family: patterns of behavior and effects on child development”. Parents completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16; Bjureberg et al., 2016) and the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS-SV; Kwon et. al., 2013). Additionally, parents rated how often they use and check their smartphones during parent-child interactions on a newly developed scale as an indicator of interruptions. The results show that parents with greater emotion regulation difficulty have a greater risk for smartphone addiction and report a higher frequency of using and checking their smartphones during parent-child face-to-face interactions. Thus, there is a significant indirect effect of emotion regulation challenges, through risk for smartphone addiction, on interruptions of interactions between parents and children. The findings are further examined within the context of parents’ characteristics that may be risk factors for the prevalence of interruptions of parent-child interactions.

This research aimed at addressing questions about what consumer goods are trending among adolescents in Croatia and why they want to have the consumer goods their peers have. The research was conducted using the method of online focus groups with children. The sample consisted of 40 adolescents (20 boys, 20 girls; average age = 14). The analysis of statements suggests that the current trend are brand clothing items, followed by smartphones and other technology items. The research shows that the reasons for children wanting to buy material goods they see in their peers are: they can play and socialise; they can bond, connect, and feel a sense of unity; they can fit in, and/or because everybody has it; they are not excluded; and finally, to acquire social status. The findings of the work indicate that adolescents want material things that are like those of their peers because of the need for connection, belonging, and relationships, but educators and parents should provide different possibilities to satisfy those needs.

The effects of media on body image have been heavily investigated through the years. Recent research has shifted its focus to social media content and other behaviors on social media that can affect body and appearance satisfaction. This study aimed...

Research examining the relations among adolescent’s problematic smartphone use, parent–adolescent conflicts about smartphone use, family communication, and adolescent communication skills is scarce. Thus, the study empirically examined a model of the direct and indirect effects of adolescents’ problematic smartphone use on adolescent communication skills via family communication and parent–adolescent conflicts about smartphone use. The data used for the creation of this paper came from a sample of 284 adolescents (59.4% girls), aged 10 to 15, who participated in a four-wave longitudinal study (2021–2023) examining the effects of smartphone use on well-being and development. Adolescents rated their problematic smartphone use (wave 1), conflicts with parents about their smartphone use (wave 2), family communication (wave 3), and communication skills (wave 4). There was no support for the direct effect of problematic smartphone use on communication skills. Our path analysis showed a significant indirect effect of problematic smartphone use on communication skills via family communication. Our analysis also showed a significant direct effect of problematic smartphone use on conflicts between parents and adolescents about the time spent using smartphones and balancing activities with smartphone use. The findings of this study imply that excessive and extensive smartphone use may pose a risk factor for frequent parent–adolescent conflicts, poor family communication, and poor adolescent communication skills.

With the rapid development of digital technology, examining the effects of digital technology use on children becomes more critical every day. This paper explores the effects of digital technology use on children from children’s and parents’ perspectives. Focus groups with children aged 9 to 15 and their parents were conducted from 30 March to 5 May 2021, via the Zoom platform. Using the thematic analysis approach, we found that both children and parents perceive different positive and negative effects of digital technology use on emotional, behavioral, physical, social and cognitive development and functioning in children, and problematic digital technology use as a general effect of excessive digital technology use in children. These results give insight into different perspectives of digital technology use and allow for encouraging positive effects and intervening in negative ones.