Impact of parental phubbing on emotional and behavioral problems of young children: The mediating role of parent–child conflict

We examined the relationship between parental phubbing and emotional and behavioral problems of 3–5-year-old children, focusing on the mediating role of parent–child conflict. We conducted a survey with 1,042 parents at four kindergartens in Fujian Province, China. Results showed that parental phubbing was positively correlated with children’s emotional and behavioral problems and with parent–child conflict, which, in turn, was correlated with children’s emotional and behavioral problems. Parent–child conflict mediated the relationship between parental phubbing behavior and children's problems, accounting for 40.78% of the total effect. These findings indicate that reducing parental phubbing may mitigate parent–child conflict and support children's emotional development.