Article URL: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1766665/full Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48854247 Points: 57 # Comme…

Behind each article we publish stands a team of superheroes: authors, editors, and reviewers who chose to uphold quality standards and share knowledge openly. Read more about the impact your work achieves. 1. Newport Healthcare (Center for Research and Innovation), Nashville, TN, United States 2. Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology, Widener University, Chester, PA, United States 3. School of Psychology, Fielding Graduate University-Santa Barbara, CA, United States While there is robust literature on the negative impact of adolescent device use on physical and psychological health, there is less research on the use of technology in the presence of others and its implications for key relationships. Known as “technoference” and “phubbing,” these device-based behaviors have only recently been examined in parent-child contexts. The present study investigated adolescents' perceptions of their primary caregivers' device-centric behaviors, the emotional appraisal of that behavior, and their association with the caregiver–adolescent attachment relationship. We hypothesized that adolescents' perceptions of less attentional availability would be associated with higher levels of insecure attachment. To test this, we validated the Device Attachment Interference Scale (DAIS) in a general population sample of U.S. adolescents (N = 600; ages 12–17). We also examined the association between DAIS scores and adolescent-reported attachment to a primary caregiver using the Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a unidimensional structure of the DAIS. Additionally, higher DAIS scores were consistently associated with greater insecure attachment (both anxious and avoidant) to both mother- and father-like figures. These findings highlight adolescents' perceptions of caregiver attentional availability in the context of device use as a potentially important relational context associated with attachment insecurity. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Several years ago, a mother familiar with the first author's work surrounding healthy device use and digital-behavior mindfulness for families, shared with him a distressing event in which her young daughter asked her, “Mommy, do you love your phone more than me?” (Anonymous, personal communication, 2018). Similar accounts had been increasingly emerging in his clinical practice, with adolescents reporting that parental attention to screens during bids for connection left them feeling devalued, dismissed, or unimportant. Although prior research has documented how digital media use may alter communication patterns between people (Amelia and Balqis, 2023; Strauss et al., 2025), far less is known about the effect of device use in the proximity of others. This is especially relevant to caregivers and whether screen use may impact relational dynamics with adolescents. In particular, whether it shapes youths' perceptions of caregiver attentional availability and responsiveness—an essential component of attachment security (Bowlby, 1969)—and ultimately affects that bond. Smartphone use is ubiquitous. While data on parents is limited, many adults have acknowledged that their smartphone use interferes with time spent with their children; in 2020, 68% of parents reported being at least “sometimes” distracted by their phones when with their child (Auxier, 2020). Teens echo this experience. In a 2024 Pew survey, 46% reported a parent “at least sometimes gets distracted by their phone” during conversations (Anderson, 2024). Together, these data highlight a modern concern: parental attention is competed for-and often captured by-smartphones and other digital devices. Given the pervasiveness of such distraction, even a modest impact on parent-child interaction could have meaningful consequences. The present investigation addresses this gap by examining how adolescents' perception of caregiver attentional availability related to their device use is associated with attachment-relevant experiences within the family system. While there is robust literature investigating adolescent device use and its relationship with their physical and psychological health and wellbeing (Vinayak et al., 2024), there is a smaller group of studies on the association between technological distractions and relationship quality. The first research in this area focused on romantic and peer relationships (McDaniel and Coyne, 2016). In this context, the terms “technoference” (a portmanteau of technology and interference; McDaniel and Radesky, 2018) and “phubbing” (a portmanteau of “phone” and “snubbing;” Al-Saggaf, 2022) arose. Technoference predicts lower relationship satisfaction and quality and greater conflict (e.g., McDaniel and Drouin, 2019; McDaniel et al., 2021). Another term, “absent presence,” (Gergen, 2002) describes when an individual is physically “present” in a social setting, but mentally “absent” due to their captivation by a technological device such as a smartphone.