Parental Technoference and Behavioral-Emotional Development in Early Childhood: A 6-Month Prospective Study

Early Childhood Parental Technoference and Behavioral-Emotional Development: A Six-Month Prospective Study

This study aims to examine the relationship between parental technoference (parents' use of smartphones or other digital devices while spending time with their children) and behavioral and emotional development in early childhood.

The study will include parents of children aged 24 to 60 months who attend a pediatric outpatient clinic. At the beginning of the study, parents will complete an online questionnaire that includes questions about their own smartphone screen time, their child's screen exposure, and standardized questionnaires assessing parental technoference and children's behavioral and emotional characteristics.

Six months after the initial assessment, parents will be contacted again to complete a short follow-up questionnaire, including the behavioral and emotional assessment. The study does not involve any medical intervention or experimental treatment. All participation is voluntary, and responses will be collected anonymously.

The findings of this study are expected to contribute to a better understanding of how parental digital device use during daily interactions may be associated with children's emotional and behavioral development in early childhood.

This is a single-center, prospective observational study conducted among parents of children aged 24 to 60 months attending a pediatric outpatient clinic at a tertiary training and research hospital.

Parental technoference is defined as interruptions in parent-child interactions due to parental use of smartphones or other digital devices. At baseline, participating parents will complete an online questionnaire that includes sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported average daily smartphone screen time over the previous seven days (recorded from the device's built-in screen time or digital wellbeing function), and information about the child's daily screen exposure.

Parental technoference will be assessed using a validated parental technoference scale, and children's behavioral and emotional characteristics will be evaluated using the parent-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for preschool-aged children. Both instruments have established validity and reliability in the Turkish population.

At the end of the baseline assessment, parents will be provided with a brief informational message aimed at increasing awareness of digital distractions during parent-child interactions. No behavioral intervention will be enforced as part of the study.

Six months after the initial assessment, parents will be re-contacted via phone or email and invited to complete a follow-up questionnaire, including the SDQ and updated information on parental and child screen exposure. The primary outcome is the association between parental technoference levels and children's behavioral and emotional outcomes. Secondary outcomes include changes in SDQ scores over the six-month follow-up period.

All data will be collected anonymously and analyzed using appropriate statistical methods, including correlation analyses and multivariable regression models. This study involves no medical intervention and poses minimal risk to participants.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 24 to 60 months.
• Parent or primary caregiver able to read and understand Turkish.
• Parent uses a smartphone and can access device-based screen time information.
• Ability to complete an online questionnaire.
• Provision of written informed consent by the parent or legal guardian.
• Availability for a 6-month follow-up assessment.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with severe neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, severe intellectual disability, neurometabolic diseases).
• Parents unable to reliably complete questionnaires due to cognitive, psychiatric, or language-related limitations.
• Parents who do not use a smartphone or cannot access screen time data.
• Refusal or inability to provide informed consent.
• Inability to be contacted for follow-up assessment.