Parents’ Perspectives on Technoference and Non-Technological Interruptions to Parent-Child Interactions: A Mixed-Methods Study.
| dc.contributor.author | Johnstone, Sasha Michelle | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-08-15T23:16:56Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-08-15T23:16:56Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Digital technology often interrupts parent-child interactions, and these interruptions, referred to as technoference, have been associated with a range of adverse outcomes for children and parents and the quality of their relationships. This project aims to explore parents’ qualitative perspectives regarding technoference and non-technological interference in scenarios involving parent-child interactions and examine how these perspectives relate to parents’ self-reported technoference frequency. Participants were 39 parents (97.4% female; M age = 36.94 years; SD = 4.97) of preschool-aged children (aged 2-5 years). Structured interviews were used to collect quantitative measures of parents’ technoference frequency, mobile phone distraction, and problematic media use. A scenario-based open-ended questionnaire developed for this study was used to ascertain parents’ perspectives on three situations involving different types of interruptions (externally-initiated technoference, self-initiated technoference, and non-technological interruption) to parent-child interactions. Parent reports of technoference frequency, mobile phone distraction and problematic media use aligned with findings in prior literature. Thematic analysis revealed four themes in how parents described their opinions on technoference and non-technological interruptions: (1) Actions parents take in response to interruptions, (2) Parents’ emotions, thoughts, and values and how these influence parents’ responses to interruptions, (3) Parents’ perceptions of children’s needs and how children feel and behave in response to interruptions, and (4) Strategies parents use to minimise the impact of interruptions. Similarities and differences in parents’ perceptions of the three interruption scenarios are discussed. Patterns in parents’ responses revealed associations between technoference frequency and parents’ perspectives on technoference. The findings suggest that parental technoference is considered normative behaviour and may be more disruptive to parent-child joint attention than non-technological interruptions. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10092/107397 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.26021/15439 | |
| dc.language | English | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | All Rights Reserved | |
| dc.rights.uri | https://canterbury.libguides.com/rights/theses | |
| dc.title | Parents’ Perspectives on Technoference and Non-Technological Interruptions to Parent-Child Interactions: A Mixed-Methods Study. | |
| dc.type | Theses / Dissertations | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Health Sciences | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Canterbury | |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science | |
| uc.college | Faculty of Health |