As smart phones integrated people’s daily life, parental phubbing has become a common phenomenon and caused various adverse effects on children. This study investigated the relationship between parental phubbing and learning engagement among adolescents and examined the mediating role of loneliness. For this purpose, a total of 324 students from a secondary vocational school in China were surveyed using three scales, including the Parents’ Phubbing Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student, and the Children’s Loneliness Scale. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis as well as mediating analysis were adopted to analyze the data. The results showed that parental phubbing negatively predicted adolescents’ learning engagement, while loneliness mediated this relationship. This indicates that parents should avoid using phones and ensure high-quality companionship with children to enhance their engagement in academics.
Asher, S. R., Hymel, S., & Renshaw, P. D. (1984). Loneliness in Children. Child Development, 55, 1456-1464. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130015
Bai, Q., Bai, S., Dan, Q., Lei, L., & Wang, P. (2020). Mother Phubbing and Adolescent Academic Burnout: The Mediating Role of Mental Health and the Moderating Role of Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Personality and Individual Differences, 155, Article ID: 109622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109622
Bandura, A., & Walters, R. H. (1977). Social Learning Theory (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs.
Cao, J., Zhang, C., & Sun, Y. (2021). The Influence of Social Network Addiction and Loneliness on Learning Engagement. In 2021 13th International Conference on Education Technology and Computers (pp. 450-455). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3498765.3498836
Coates, H. (2006). Student Engagement in Campus-Based and Online Education: University Connections. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203969465
Ding, Q., Wang, Z., & Zhang, Y. X. (2020). Revision of the Chinese Version of Parents Phubbing Scale in Adolescents. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 28, 942-945. (In Chinese)
Fang, L. T., Shi, K., & Zhang, F. H. (2008). Research on Reliability and Validity of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 16, 618-620. (In Chinese)
Hu, P. J.-H., & Hui, W. (2012). Examining the Role of Learning Engagement in Technology-Mediated Learning and Its Effects on Learning Effectiveness and Satisfaction. Decision Support Systems, 53, 782-792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2012.05.014
Hu, Y., Wang, J., Lin, Y., & Zhang, B. (2023). The Relation of Parental Phubbing to Academic Engagement and the Related Mechanisms in Elementary Students. Learning and Individual Differences, 101, Article ID: 102251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2022.102251
Jiang, Y., Lin, L., & Hu, R. (2023). Parental Phubbing and Academic Burnout in Adolescents: The Role of Social Anxiety and Self-Control. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, Article 1157209. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1157209
Jules, M. A., Maynard, D. M. B., Lowe, G., Lipps, G., & Gibson, R. C. (2021). A Psycho-Social Analysis of Depression, Anxiety and Student Engagement: Effects of Parenting Practices. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26, 110-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104520972447
Kahu, E. R., & Nelson, K. (2018). Student Engagement in the Educational Interface: Understanding the Mechanisms of Student Success. Higher Education Research & Development, 37, 58-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2017.1344197
Li, R., Yao, M., Liu, H., & Chen, Y. (2019). Relationships among Autonomy Support, Psychological Control, Coping, and Loneliness: Comparing Victims with Nonvictims. Personality and Individual Differences, 138, 266-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.10.001
Mi, Z., Cao, W., Diao, W., Wu, M., & Fang, X. (2023). The Relationship between Parental Phubbing and Mobile Phone Addiction in Junior High School Students: A Moderated Mediation Model. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, Article 1117221. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1117221
Mitchell, R. L. C., & Phillips, L. H. (2007). The Psychological, Neurochemical and Functional Neuroanatomical Mediators of the Effects of Positive and Negative Mood on Executive Functions. Neuropsychologia, 45, 617-629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.06.030
Pancani, L., Gerosa, T., Gui, M., & Riva, P. (2021). “Mom, Dad, Look at Me”: The Development of the Parental Phubbing Scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38, 435-458. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407520964866
Peng, Y., Zhu, L., & Wang, Z. (2018). Association between Parental Emotion Expressiveness and Adolescent Behavior Problem: The Mediating Role of the Parent-Child Attachment and Loneliness. Psychological Development and Education, 34, 504-512.
Roberts, J. A., & David, M. E. (2016). My Life Has Become a Major Distraction from My Cell Phone: Partner Phubbing and Relationship Satisfaction among Romantic Partners. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 134-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.058
Soffer, T., & Cohen, A. (2019). Students’ Engagement Characteristics Predict Success and Completion of Online Courses. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 35, 378-389. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12340
Stoliker, B. E., & Lafreniere, K. D. (2015). The Influence of Perceived Stress, Loneliness, and Learning Burnout on University Students’ Educational Experience. College Student Journal, 49, 146-160.
Tang, A.-M., Deng, X.-L., Du, X.-X., & Wang, M.-Z. (2018). Harsh Parenting and Adolescent Depression: Mediation by Negative Self-Cognition and Moderation by Peer Acceptance. School Psychology International, 39, 22-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034317709066
Wang, J., Shi, X., Yang, Y., Zou, H., Zhang, W., & Xu, Q. (2019a). The Joint Effect of Paternal and Maternal Parenting Behaviors on School Engagement among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Mastery Goal. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1587. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01587
Wang, M. T., Degol, J. L., & Henry, D. A. (2019b). An Integrative Development-in-Socio-cultural-Context Model for Children’s Engagement in Learning. American Psychologist, 74, 1086-1102. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000522
Wang, M., & Zhou, Z. (2016). Harsh Parenting: Meaning, Influential Factors and Mechanisms. Advances in Psychological Science, 24, 379-391. (In Chinese) https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1042.2016.00379
Wang, M., Wu, X., & Wang, J. (2021). Paternal and Maternal Harsh Parenting and Chinese Adolescents’ Social Anxiety: The Different Mediating Roles of Attachment Insecurity with Fathers and Mothers. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36, 9904-9923. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519881531
Wang, P., Hu, H., Mo, P. K., Ouyang, M., Geng, J., Zeng, P., & Mao, N. (2022a). How Is Father Phubbing Associated with Adolescents’ Social Networking Sites Addiction? Roles of Narcissism, Need to Belong, and Loneliness. The Journal of Psychology, 156, 331-348. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2022.2034726
Wang, P., Zhao, M., Li, B., Wang, X., Xie, X., Geng, J. et al. (2022b). Mother Phubbing and Adolescent Loneliness: A Mediation Model of Mother-Adolescent Communication and Perceived Mother Acceptance. Social Science Computer Review, 40, 1562-1577. https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393211017263
Wang, X., Qiao, Y., & Wang, S. (2023). Parental Phubbing, Problematic Smartphone Use, and Adolescents’ Learning Burnout: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 320, 442-449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.09.163
Wen, Z., & Ye, B. (2014). Analyses of Mediating Effects: The Development of Methods and Models. Advances in Psychological Science, 22, 731-745. (In Chinese) https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1042.2014.00731
Xie, X., & Xie, J. (2020). Parental Phubbing Accelerates Depression in Late Childhood and Adolescence: A Two-Path Model. Journal of Adolescence, 78, 43-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.12.004
Xie, X., Chen, W., Zhu, X., & He, D. (2019). Parents’ Phubbing Increases Adolescents’ Mobile Phone Addiction: Roles of Parent-Child Attachment, Deviant Peers, and Gender. Children and Youth Services Review, 105, Article ID: 104426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104426
Zhang, J., & Yue, P. (2021). The Influence of Harsh Parenting on Middle School Students’ Learning Engagement: The Mediating Effect of Perceived Self-Efficacy in Managing Negative Affect and the Moderating Effect of Mindfulness. Psychology, 12, 1473-1489. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2021.1210093
Zhang, M., Li, Y., Li, J., & Liu, X. (2023). The Influence of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation on Memory in Adolescents and the Underlying Neural Mechanisms. Advances in Psychological Science, 31, 1-9. (In Chinese) https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1042.2023.00001
Zhang, Y., Qin, X., & Ren, P. (2018). Adolescents’ Academic Engagement Mediates the Association between Internet Addiction and Academic Achievement: The Moderating Effect of Classroom Achievement Norm. Computers in Human Behavior, 89, 299-307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.08.018
Zhao, J., Li, Q., Wang, L., Lin, L., & Zhang, W. (2019). Latent Profile Analysis of Left-Behind Adolescents’ Psychosocial Adaptation in Rural China. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48, 1146-1160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-00989-1
Zhou, J., Li, X., & Gong, X. (2022). Parental Phubbing and Internet Gaming Addiction in Children: Mediating Roles of Parent-Child Relationships and Depressive Symptoms. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 25, 512-517. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2022.0021