Phubbing in parent-child relations as a factor of digital behavior development in adolescents

Problem and aim. The family plays an important role in the digital socialization of adolescents, which raises questions about the role of child-parent relationships in the formation of digital behavior of schoolchildren. The study of new phenomena in these relationships caused by the digital transformation of the family environment becomes especially significant. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the characteristics of adolescents' use of digital technologies, their perception of parental phubbing and parental mediation. Materials and methods. The study sample consisted of 432 adolescents studying in grades 6-11, aged 11 to 18 years (mean age – 14.96 years, standard deviation – 1.56, 56.3% – girls, 42.36% – high school students). To solve the tasks of the study, a methodological complex was compiled, including a questionnaire of mobile device usage patterns, the Russian-language adaptation of the E. Karadağ phubbing scale, the parental mediation questionnaire and a modified technoference scale by B. T. McDaniel and S. M. Coyne for adolescents to assess their perception of child-parent relationships. Methods of mathematical statistics included analysis of descriptive statistics, comparative, correlation, factor and path analyses KEYWORDS Results. The study showed that adolescents use gadgets mainly for communication and entertainment. At the same time, gender differences were revealed, manifested in greater use of technology for communication (U=16896; p<0.001) and study (U=17101; p<0.001), and less tendency to engage in risky digital behavior (U=13978; p<0.001) in girls. Girls perceived parental mediation as more comfortable (U=17476; p<0.001). A permissive stance in parental mediation was reported more by girls (U=17476; p<0.001) and older adolescents (U=18455; p<0.001). Two path models were obtained to characterize the relationship of parental phubbing and mediation of adolescents' use of gadgets, characterizing the formation of problematic (χ2=17.72; df=7; χ2/df=2.53 (CI 90%: 0.025-0.095)) and constructive (χ2=9.14; df=6 (CI 90%: 0.000-0.077)) digital behaviors of schoolchildren. Conclusion. The results obtained emphasize the importance of the parental role in the formation of adolescents' digital behavior. Parental phubbing negatively affects child-parent relations and contributes to the development of problematic digital behavior in adolescents. The study showed that joint activities of parent and child in mastering digital technologies contribute to harmonious digital socialization of adolescents.