Teenagers, in turn, say they feel insecure and as though they don’t matter. However, experts say that parents’ negative digital habits do not necessarily lead directly to mobile phone addiction in their children. They do, however, recommend setting clear boundaries at home – for example, designating times when mobile phones are banned and spending time with your children.
A child comes home from school or an after-school club and wants to tell their parents how they’ve felt throughout the day. The parents do ask them about it, but with their phones in their hands, so the child ends up not getting a proper response from the adults.
“Parents who spend too much time on their phones instead of spending time with their children are sending out a negative message – that the invisible person on the other end is more important than you,” points out expert Wendy L. Patrick.
The term ‘phubbing’ refers to a situation in which a person overlooks or ignores others by prioritising their mobile phone over face-to-face interaction. Although, according to experts, some people do not do this deliberately, their disregard can have a negative impact on those around them. It can therefore potentially influence the behaviour of their partners, as well as that of their children.
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In their study, Romanian researchers Alexandra Cobzeanu and Gabriela-Elena Adafini examined how parents’ mobile phone use affects their teenage children. In this context, they highlighted technological developments themselves, noting that the mobile phone, which previously served only to make calls and send text messages, is now a device offering many functions that are considered essential by many people.
This could include, for example, banking services and payments; for teenagers, however, it might be social media, apps or the internet itself. They might watch silly videos, play the same games over and over again, or – in the case of teenagers – livestream their experiences and chat with friends.
In their study, the experts also point out that prioritising mobile phones and being distracted by them at the expense of children is becoming increasingly common in families and represents a worrying aspect of family life. The fact that adults ignore their children or pay them less attention whilst using their smartphones can have a negative impact on their relationship, as the child feels that they are not important or that they are being neglected.
They also point out that when parents spend a lot of time on their phones and ignore their children, this can lead to feelings of rejection and alienation amongst their peers, as well as poorer emotional well-being and negative development in this area.
A total of 159 adolescents aged between thirteen and eighteen took part in the study. The researchers noted that the teenagers reported that parental ‘phubbing’ by either their mother or father occurred to the same extent. This made the children feel that they were not important. For example, the adolescents in the study answered questions such as ‘To what extent do you feel that you don’t matter?’ and ‘How often have you been treated in a way that makes you feel insignificant?’
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According to experts, recent findings highlight the significant impact of phubbing on interpersonal interactions, particularly in the parent-child relationship. “Adolescents are generally more prone to problematic smartphone behaviour than other age groups. The feeling that they are not important to others can have a number of negative consequences – including a tendency to engage in addictive behaviour, such as smartphone addiction,” the researchers state.
However, the study also suggests that parental phubbing does not directly lead to smartphone addiction in adolescents. But it does have an indirect effect through the aforementioned feeling of being unimportant. “Individuals who feel ignored by their partners are likely to interact more with their smartphones once their need for attention is not met. Therefore, adolescents who frequently experience parental phubbing may seek attention elsewhere and turn to their smartphones when interactions with their parents are perceived as failing to meet their social and emotional needs. And when they view themselves as unimportant to their parents,” the researchers found.
Another study from recent times, which examines the impact of parental phubbing on children’s wellbeing and how it affects relationships at home, is an American study.
“I’ve talked to friends about this work – many of whom are committed, well-educated parents – and most of them frowned as they recognised themselves in these scenarios. This isn’t about why we’re all bad parents; it’s about taking a look at our families and the role that phones and other devices play in them, in the hope that, where it makes sense, we’ll make small changes,” explains one of the authors of this research, Karen Elizabeth Dill-Shackleford.
A total of six hundred teenagers aged between twelve and seventeen took part in the study. During the study, experts asked them how they perceived their mother or father and to what extent they felt that their parents’ mobile phones, tablets or computers were distracting them.
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The experts were also interested in whether the teenager felt that their parent was ignoring them specifically because of their mobile phone, and whether this meant the parent was not paying attention to their needs and was therefore failing to make them feel valued.
As in the study mentioned earlier, the researchers found that teenagers who reported that their parents were distracted by a smartphone or other device also felt less confident. They were also less likely to turn to their parents when they needed to talk about something important.
In this context, Dill-Shackleford pointed out that it is not just about mobile phones these days, but that there are a number of other things that can distract parents. “But mobile phones and other devices are designed to grab our attention and hold it. We know that people regularly look at their mobile phones in many everyday situations,” she noted.
The study also highlights the fact that distraction caused by mobile phones is often intermittent, socially accepted and embedded in otherwise ordinary situations between parents and adolescents. Unlike mental or physical problems, parents’ mobile phone use is under their conscious control, and is also present at work.
According to the researcher, the solution is not to get rid of your mobile phone, or to never look at information or play a game. “Rather, we recommend making sure you are available,” explained the psychologist. This could involve setting aside a specific time when you don’t use your mobile phone – whether during meals or in the evening before going to bed.
The expert also recommends that parents think about what it means to give their children ‘sufficient attention’. For example, how can they tell when something is really important to a child, or how can they show their child that they are always there for them?
However, according to the psychologist, this does not mean that parents have to stop whatever they are doing every time their child seeks their attention. “A good place to start is to let them know that you realise they are trying to get your attention. You could, for example, tell them when you’ll have time for a proper chat,” advises Dill-Shackleford.
As in the case of the first study cited above, the experts here also point out that even short-term disruptions in parents’ responses to their children can have significant implications for adolescents in terms of their interpersonal relationships. According to the experts, it is not just a matter of adult behaviour, but also of how their children experience a sense of belonging and the security of an emotional bond.
Although there is only a limited amount of data on parents’ behaviour, many adults have admitted that their smartphone use interferes with the time they spend with their children. For example, as far back as six years ago, 68 per cent of parents surveyed reported that their phone distracts them at least ‘sometimes’ when they are with their child. And in a 2024 survey, almost half of teenagers (46 per cent) reported that their parent “gets distracted by their phone at least occasionally” during a conversation.
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An article written by Denisa Šindlerová (CT), initially published on 20 July 2026, 07:00 (CEST)