Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39841982›Full record

SynthesisJournal of medical Internet research2025

Parental Technoference and Child Problematic Media Use: Meta-Analysis.

Jinghui Zhang, Qing Zhang, Bowen Xiao, Yuxuan Cao, Yu Chen, Yan Li

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of medical Internet research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jinghui ZhangShanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.ORCID 0000-0002-0926-3486
Qing ZhangShanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.ORCID 0009-0002-6199-0602
Bowen XiaoPsychology Department, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-6766-714X
Yuxuan CaoShanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.ORCID 0009-0009-4807-2947
Yu ChenShanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.ORCID 0009-0000-9508-8233
Yan LiShanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.ORCID 0000-0002-1330-3057

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundParental technoference, the interruption of parent-child interactions by technology, has been associated with negative outcomes in children's media use. However, the magnitude of this relationship and its moderating factors remain unclear.

objectiveThis study aims to systematically examine the relationship between parental technoference and child problematic media use, as well as to identify moderating factors such as age, parental technoference group, study design, and type of problematic media use.

methodsFollowing PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, a comprehensive literature search was conducted up to August 2024 across multiple databases, including Web of Science, EBSCO, ProQuest, PubMed, PsycINFO, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure, using predefined search strings. A total of 53 studies with a total of 60,555 participants (mean age of 13.84, SD 1.18 years) were included. Inclusion criteria comprised studies involving children under the age of 22 years, assessing the association between parental technoference and child problematic media use with valid measures, and reporting necessary statistical data. Exclusion criteria included studies focusing on other child outcomes, having sample sizes <30, or being case reports or review papers. The risk of bias was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed using R (version 4.2.1; R Foundation for Statistical Computing) with the meta and metafor packages to evaluate the association and conduct moderator analyses.

resultsThe meta-analysis identified a significant positive association between parental technoference and child problematic media use (r=0.296, 95% CI 0.259-0.331). Moderator analyses revealed that both parental technoference group (P<.001) and study design (P=.008) significantly influenced this relationship. Specifically, the association was stronger when both parents engaged in technoference compared to when only 1 parent did, and in cross-sectional studies compared to longitudinal studies. Age, gender, publication status, and type of problematic media use did not significantly moderate the relationship (all P>.05).

conclusionsThis meta-analysis provides robust evidence of the association between parental technoference and child problematic media use. The findings highlight the need for family-based interventions and underscore the importance of longitudinal research to understand the temporal dynamics of this relationship better.

trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42023471997; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=471997.

Indexed as

Parent-Child RelationsParentsAdolescentChildFemaleHumansMaleadolescentschildchildrendigital healthinterventionsmental healthmeta-analysisparental technoferencephubbingproblematic media usescreen distractionsystematic reviewsyouth

Identifiers

PMID39841982
PMCPMC11799820

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.