Cimino Silvia, Cerniglia Luca
Department of Dynamic, Clinical and Health Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy.
Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic University Uninettuno, 00186 Roma, Italy.
Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2025 Mar 16;15(3):36. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe15030036.
Parent-child interactions during mealtime significantly influence social, emotional, and cognitive development in early childhood. Increasing parental use of digital technology has been linked to disruptions in these interactions, a phenomenon termed "technoference," which is associated with relational conflicts and psychosocial difficulties in children. Feeding interactions are particularly important for fostering attachment and emotional regulation, making them a vital area for studying technology's effects on parent-child dynamics.
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of parental digital technology use during mealtime on the quality of feeding interactions and child dysregulation symptoms. Two groups were compared: mothers who used devices during mealtime (Technology Group, TG) and mothers who did not (Non-Technology Group, NTG).
Participants included mother-child dyads (TG) and a matched control group (NTG) (Ntot = 174), selected from a broader research project. Mother-child pairs were observed during a 20 min midday meal using the validated Italian Scala di Valutazione dell'Interazione Alimentare (SVIA). The emotional and behavioral functioning of children was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Statistical analyses included ANOVAs and post hoc tests.
The TG group demonstrated significantly higher scores on all SVIA subscales, indicating greater parental affective challenges, conflict, food refusal behaviors, and dyadic distress. Additionally, children in the TG group exhibited more internalizing and externalizing problems, including dysregulation symptoms on the CBCL, compared to the NTG group.
Parental technology use during mealtime negatively affects parent-child feeding interactions and increases dysregulation in children. These findings highlight the need for mindful parenting strategies to limit digital distractions and foster healthier family dynamics.
用餐时间的亲子互动对幼儿的社交、情感和认知发展有显著影响。父母越来越多地使用数字技术与这些互动的中断有关，这种现象被称为“科技干扰”，它与儿童的关系冲突和心理社会困难有关。喂养互动对于培养依恋关系和情绪调节尤为重要，使其成为研究技术对亲子关系动态影响的关键领域。
本研究旨在评估用餐时父母使用数字技术对喂养互动质量和儿童失调症状的影响。比较了两组：用餐时使用设备的母亲（技术组，TG）和不使用设备的母亲（非技术组，NTG）。
参与者包括母婴二元组（TG）和匹配的对照组（NTG）（N总计 = 174），选自一个更广泛的研究项目。使用经过验证的意大利语《食物互动评估量表》（SVIA）在午餐20分钟期间观察母婴对。使用儿童行为检查表（CBCL）评估儿童的情绪和行为功能。统计分析包括方差分析和事后检验。
TG组在所有SVIA子量表上的得分显著更高，表明父母面临更大的情感挑战、冲突、食物拒绝行为和二元痛苦。此外，与NTG组相比，TG组的儿童表现出更多的内化和外化问题，包括CBCL上的失调症状。
用餐时父母使用技术会对亲子喂养互动产生负面影响，并增加儿童的失调。这些发现凸显了需要有意识的育儿策略来限制数字干扰并促进更健康的家庭动态。
