The impact of family parenting styles on behavioral and emotional problems in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: the mediating role of mobile phone addiction

Objective: This study examined the relationships between parenting styles and behavioral-emotional problems in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), investigating mobile phone addiction as a potential mediating mechanism. Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed with 232 children diagnosed with ADHD (aged 6-17 years) and their parents. Participants completed the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham-IV (SNAP-IV) Rating Scale for ADHD symptoms, the Mobile Phone Addiction Self-Rating Scale, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Brief Form, and the Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran (EMBU) Parenting Style Scale. Mediation analyses were conducted using Hayes' PROCESS macro with 5,000 bootstrap samples. Results: < 0.001). Mobile phone addiction partially mediated these relationships. The indirect effects were significant (negative parenting: ab = 0.22, 95% CI [0.14, 0.31], accounting for 32.4% of the total effect; positive parenting: ab = -0.16, 95% CI [-0.24, -0.09], accounting for 27.6% of the total effect). Conclusion: Mobile phone addiction serves as a significant mediator between parenting styles and behavioral-emotional problems in ADHD children. Interventions targeting both parenting practices and digital device management may be beneficial for improving outcomes in this population.