Toddlers’ physiological response to parent's mobile device distraction and technoference

Abstract

Given the prevalence of mobile device use, especially among parents of young children, the current study examines the impact of mobile device distraction (technoference) on toddlers’ physiological and emotional functioning. We suspected that toddlers’ would demonstrate difficultly maintaining physiological and emotional homeostasis when parents became distracted by a mobile device. In this study, we examined toddlers’ (N = 129, M age = 29.05 months) physiological and behavioral responses across three conditions in an induced technoference task that mimicked elements of a traditional still face paradigm (i.e., social engagement, phone distraction, and social recovery). Similar to previous studies employing still face with younger infants, a majority of toddlers demonstrated a loss of positive affective tone mirrored by heart rate increase and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) decrease (vagal withdrawal) during the phone distraction condition relative to the initial and final social engagement conditions. However, some toddlers demonstrated vagal activation (RSA increase) to parents’ phone distraction. Greater RSA withdrawal was linked to decreased positive affect and increased negative affect for children during parents’ phone distraction. Parents who reported higher levels of technoference were more likely to have children who demonstrated lower vagal reactivity (greater vagal withdrawal) to parents’ phone distraction while parents attitudes about technoference (e.g., “it is okay to use a mobile device in front of my child”) was found to be linked to higher RSA reactivity (greater vagal activation). Findings are discussed in relation to Porges’ polyvagal theory and the possible role that interactive dynamics play in children's emerging regulatory systems.

Exploring the impact of parental technoference on toddlers: A commentary on physiological and developmental implications

“…To the Editor of Developmental Psychobiology I am writing to provide commentary on the article "Toddlers' physiological response to parent's mobile device distraction and technoference" by Porter et al (2024), as published in your esteemed journal.…”

“…The research by Porter et al (2024) contributes significantly to our understanding of the immediate physiological responses of toddlers to technoference, demonstrating variations in heart rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia that reflect changes in emotional and stress regulation. This aligns with previous research that has illustrated the broader implications of parental technology use on child behavior and parent-child relationship quality (Mackay et al, 2022;McDaniel & Radesky, 2018).…”