Impact of Mother-Perceived Father Parenting Involvement on Preschoolers' Self-Regulation: Sequential Dual Mediation Effects of Maternal Parenting Stress and Preschoolers' Smartphone Overdependence

Objectives This study aims to examine whether maternal parenting stress and preschoolers’ smartphone over-dependence exhibit a sequential dual mediation effect in the relationship between mothers' perception of fathers' parenting involvement and preschoolers’ self-regulation. Methods The study analyzed responses from 297 mothers of 5- to 7-year-old children attending four daycare centers in the Busan-Gyeongnam area, collected over a 14-day period from October 12 to 26, 2023. A total of 33 respondents were excluded due to non-responses or unreliable answers, leaving 297 valid responses. Pearson’s product-moment correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationships between the variables, and Hayes (2018) PROCESS macro model 6 was employed to analyze the sequential dual mediation effect. Results A positive correlation was observed between mothers' perception of fathers' parenting involvement and preschoolers’ self-regulation, while maternal parenting stress and preschoolers’ smartphone overdependence were negatively correlated with preschoolers’ self-regulation. Maternal parenting stress showed a positive corre-lation with preschoolers’ smartphone overdependence and a negative correlation with preschoolers’ self-regulation. Preschoolers' smartphone overdependence was also negatively correlated with preschoolers’ self-regulation. Furthermore, the mediating effects of maternal parenting stress and preschoolers’ smartphone overdependence in the relationship between mothers' perception of fathers' parenting involvement and preschoolers’ self-regu-lation were significant. The sequential dual mediation effect of maternal parenting stress and preschoolers' smart-phone overdependence was also confirmed to be significant. Conclusions These results confirm that a synergistic effect occurs when maternal parenting stress and infant's smartphone overdependence sequentially mediate the relationship between mothers' perception of fathers' pa-renting involvement and preschoolers’ self-regulation.