The Relationship Between Maternal Phubbing and Children’s Social Competence: The Mediating Effects of Maternal Affectionate Expression, Maternal Discipline Practices, and Children’s Executive Function

Objective: This study examined the simple mediating effects of maternal expression of affection, discipline practices, and children’s executive function in the relationship between maternal phubbing and children’s social competence. Additionally, it tested sequential double mediation pathways through which maternal phubbing influences children’s social competence via maternal expression of affection and discipline practices, followed by children’s executive function.Methods: The participants were 306 children aged 3 to 5 years residing in Gyeonggi Province, their mothers, and 38 classroom teachers. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing maternal phubbing, mother-child interaction, and children’s executive function, while classroom teachers assessed children’s social competence. The data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and PROCESS macro 4.2 Model 80, and the significance of the mediating effects was tested using bootstrapping procedures.Results: Maternal expression of affection and children’s executive function each significantly mediated the relationship between maternal phubbing and children’s social competence. In contrast, the simple mediating effect of maternal discipline practices was not significant. Additionally, all sequential double mediation effects were significant. Specifically, maternal phubbing had significant indirect effects on children’s social competence through the sequential pathways of discipline practices and children’s executive function, and through maternal expression of affection and children’s executive function.Conclusion: This study conceptualized maternal phubbing from the perspective of relational attention shifting and identified multiple mediating pathways to children’s social competence through mother-child interaction and children’s executive function. These findings raise awareness of maternal phubbing and highlight the importance of high-quality mother-child interaction in everyday contexts.