Being Phubbed and Positive Communication: An Indonesian Family-based Dyadic Analysis

Aim This research investigated the impact of being phubbed on positive communication dynamics within family relationships, specifically between parents and adolescents and between parents dyadically. Background The experience of being phubbed is becoming an increasing phenomenon as the use of gadgets during face-to-face communication takes place. Most research focuses on how children experience being phubbed by their parents. For this reason, this study answers the gap related to how parents experience being phubbed in communication with their children. This research also examines the experience of being phubbed between fathers and mothers in the same family and its impact on their positive family communication. Methods Data were analyzed using the Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), a statistical model for dyadic data in which two individuals affect one another, such as those between parent-adolescent child dyads and husband-wife dyads. The total participants consist of 306 participants from 102 Indonesian families, including 102 father-adolescents, 102 mother-adolescents, and 102 father-mother dyadic pairs. The APIM_MM web-based application was used to test how an individual’s predictor influences their outcome and how an individual’s predictor influences their partner’s outcome (the partner's effect). Results The study found that being phubbed (whether experienced by oneself or one's partner) has no statistically significant effect on positive family communication qualities. This held true for the three pairs studied: father and adolescent, mother and adolescent, and father and mother. There were no significant actor or partner effects regarding being phubbed, although positive communication in the dyads indicated some dependency. All members of each dyad had comparable patterns of positive communication, suggesting that some positive interactions occur in return within familial relationships. Conclusion This study explored the impact of being phubbed on positive communication within Indonesian family dyads using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). Results revealed no significant actor or partner effects of being phubbed on positive communication in father-adolescent, mother-adolescent, or father-mother relationships.