Parental Technoference (Technology Interference) and Children's Social-Emotional Development: Coparenting as a Mediator

OBJECTIVE: Although the impact of parental technoference on family dynamics has been increasingly studied, its association with preschoolers' social-emotional development and the underlying mechanism behind the association remain underexplored. This study aimed to examine the relationship between parental technoference and preschoolers' social-emotional development among Chinese families, with coparenting as a potential mediator. METHOD: This study involved 207 Chinese families with preschoolers (mean age = 4.72 years). Both mothers and fathers reported on their perceptions of technoference, coparenting quality, and their child's social-emotional development. RESULTS: Parental technoference was negatively associated with both mother- and father-reported coparenting quality. However, only father-reported coparenting, but not mother-reported coparenting, was significantly related to children's social-emotional development. Analysis of the indirect effects showed that both father-reported supportive and undermining coparenting partially mediated the relationship between parental technoference and certain aspects of children's social-emotional development. By contrast, mother-reported coparenting did not significantly mediate the association between parental technoference and children's social-emotional development. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the importance of managing parental technoference and strengthening coparenting to promote social-emotional development in Chinese preschool children.