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Study on Mobile Phone Attraction, Relationship Ties, Social Interactions, Emotion Regulation, and Stress (SMARTIES)

Research Project
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01.01.2021
 - 31.12.2022

Mobile devices have become an essential part of our everyday life. Our smartphones grant access to work, entertainment, information, and to other people - anyplace and anytime. This permanent accessibility offers many benefits but also bears some risks. In the family environment, research on the risks and benefits of digital devices has mainly focused on child use. However, if and how parental problematic use of smartphones and other devices affects the socio-emotional development of children remains unclear. On the one hand, spending time on mobile devices reduces the time parents spend in direct interaction with their children. Because children learn many socio-emotional skills in direct interaction with their parents, a reduction in high-quality parent-child interactions increases the risk for child behavioral problems. On the other hand, using social networks might also increase the feeling of connectedness in the family. The aim of the proposed research project is to investigate the association between parental smartphone use and child socio-emotional development, and to assess the role of parent-child interactions in this association. To examine our research question, we are planning a large online study including German-speaking Swiss parents with children age 2-16. In addition, we will invite 150 parents with their 4-7-year-old children to the laboratories of the Child- and Adolescent Research Department of the Psychiatric University Hospitals (UPK). During the one-hour lab assessment, we will record and score parent-child interaction patterns in different situations and test different socio-emotional skills in children using developmental tests. In the long-term, the results will be highly relevant to formulate guidelines to advise parents on digital media use and screen time not only for their children but also for themselves.

Funding

Study on Mobile Phone Addiction, Relationship Ties, Social Interactions, Emotion Regulation, and Stress (SMARTIES)

Forschungsfonds (Excellent Junior Researcher) (GrantsTool), 01.2021-12.2022 (24)
PI : Unternährer, Eva.

Publications

Bolten, Margarete and Unternaehrer, Eva (2025) ‘Editorial: Digital media use in early childhood—contextual factors, developmental outcomes, and pathways’, Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 4. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/frcha.2025.1627511.

URLs
URLs

Cost, Katherine T. et al. (2023) ‘Patterns of parent screen use, child screen time, and child socio-emotional problems at 5 years’, Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 35(7). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/jne.13246.

URLs
URLs

Members (11)

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Eva Unternährer

Principal Investigator
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Christina Stadler

Co-Investigator
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Jalisse Schmid

Project Member
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Aurelia Campitelli

Project Member
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Carla Holzapfel

Project Member
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Carmen Geel

Project Member
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