Department of Psychology, The University of Findlay, Findlay, OH 45840, USA.
Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Aug 21;17(17):6077. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17176077.
Caregiver mobile phone use while monitoring children is a behavior of increasing prevalence. Family mealtimes have long been considered a time in which parents and children connect emotionally and model eating behaviors, but prior studies have documented less parent-child conversation and more negative parent reactions to child behavioral bids at the table during parent phone use. Research on this topic to date is sparse and focuses only on US populations. The current study used non-participant naturalistic observation to record data on parental mealtime device use and family interactions while dining with children in a fast food restaurant in Italy. Thirty seven families (individuals observed = 129) were observed at a restaurant for the duration of their meal. Qualitative analysis of field notes indicated that mobile phones are frequently used by caregivers during feeding interactions. A novel observation in the current study was different patterns of use by parent gender and age. Mothers appeared to divide their attention between phone and child, whereas fathers evidenced more continuous mobile phone use during which there was lower responsiveness towards children during the meal. Younger parents more frequently used mobile phones, compared to older parents. Parents who missed child bids for attention were all phone users during the mealtime.
照顾者在监护儿童时使用手机的行为正变得越来越普遍。家庭用餐时间一直被认为是父母和孩子在情感上联系和塑造饮食习惯的时间，但之前的研究记录显示，在父母使用手机时，父母与孩子的对话较少，对孩子行为的反应也更负面。迄今为止，关于这一主题的研究还很稀少，而且只关注美国人群。本研究采用非参与式自然观察法，在意大利的一家快餐店记录了父母在用餐时使用电子设备和与孩子互动的情况。在餐厅里，对 37 个家庭（被观察个体=129 人）进行了用餐时长的观察。对现场记录的定性分析表明，在喂养互动过程中，照顾者经常使用手机。本研究中的一个新观察结果是，父母的性别和年龄不同，使用手机的方式也不同。母亲似乎在手机和孩子之间分配注意力，而父亲在使用手机时则表现出更连续的行为，在用餐期间对孩子的反应较低。与年长的父母相比，年轻的父母更频繁地使用手机。错过孩子关注请求的父母在吃饭时都在使用手机。
