The Chain Mediating Effects of Parent–Child Conflict and Screen Time on the Relationship Between Parental Phubbing and Problem Behaviors in Preschoolers

This study aims to investigate the key factors contributing to parental phubbing behaviors (the combination of "phone" and "snubbing"), ultimately reducing behavioral problems and promoting healthy development among preschool children. Parental phubbing refers to the phenomenon where parents neglect their children due to excessive mobile device use during parent-child interactions. A questionnaire was administered to 751 parents of preschool children during 2023 using a convenience sampling methodology. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the underlying mechanisms among parental phubbing behavior, parent-child conflict, children's screen exposure duration, and preschool children's problematic behaviors. The phenomenon of parental phubbing exhibits a medium-high level of prevalence, paralleled by medium-high levels of problematic behaviors in preschool children; Parental phubbing not only directly predicts problematic behaviors in preschool children, but also indirectly influences these behaviors through a mediating chain comprising parent-child conflict and children's screen exposure duration. However, parental phubbing behavior does not directly predict preschool children's screen exposure duration; rather, parental phubbing behavior influences children's screen time through parent-child conflict as a significant mediating factor. The phenomenon of parental phubbing behavior is concerning, suggesting that parents should pay attention to the potential hazards of media use on preschool children, improve their own media literacy, and provide appropriate media guidance to their children while accompanying them at home, so as to jointly promote the comprehensive development of preschool children.