Discussion
This study establishes a model that explains the relationship between mothers’ emotional intelligence, negative parenting behaviours, preschoolers’ attachment instability, and preschoolers’ smart device overdependence based on scientific evidence and identifies the relationships among the variables. We now discuss these relationships among the factors, namely the direct relationship of preschoolers’ attachment instability and mothers’ negative parenting behaviours and the indirect relationship of mothers’ emotional intelligence, on smart device overdependence among preschoolers.
In our study, the attachment instability of preschoolers is found to have the strongest relationship with their smart device overdependence. This suggests that preschoolers who develop attachment instability fail to obtain psychological safety from their mothers and thus seek psychological safety using smart devices. Previous arguments that young children may become overdependent on smart devices as they experience psychological safety from the firm touch of such devices and find entertainment in the repeated use of the same support our findings [
40]. Developing attachment stability is important in young children because attachment is essential to the survival of young children, and mothers’ response serves as a social mirror that shapes the formation of young children’s egos [
22]. This differs from the importance of peer relationships or school adjustment. It is considered in the evaluation of smart device overdependence in school-age children and adolescents [
41,
42] because they compare themselves with their peers and place great emphasis on other people’s judgments [
43]. The findings of this study reflect the developmental features of young children.
Mothers’ negative parenting behaviours likewise was directly related to preschoolers’ smart device overdependence. Negative parenting behaviours include rejecting, uninvolved, overprotective, and uncritical/permissive parenting styles [
37]. This study shows that contrary to the belief that a rejecting parenting style, such as getting angry or yelling, would reduce smart device overdependence among young children, it increases smart device overdependence. This is supported by the argument that negative parenting behaviours, such as immediately expressing anger toward young children’s negative behaviours, reinforces the children’s problematic behaviours through a secondary benefit—attention [
44]. Moreover, we can infer that uninvolved, overprotective, and uncritical/permissive parenting behaviours, in which mothers do not properly restrict young children’s use of smart devices also increases the risk of smart device overdependence. This is because inattention and the repeated use of smart devices to control young children increase their smart device overdependence [
12] while failing to meet their actual needs, resulting in unmet needs, and increasing attachment instability [
12,
23,
33] and thereby increasing the use of smart devices.
Meanwhile, the finding that preschoolers’ attachment instability has a stronger correlation with smart device overdependence than mothers’ negative parenting behaviours suggests that smart device overdependence in preschoolers is not a simple behaviour problem that can be resolved by restricting usage. Instead, it is a psychological issue that requires evaluating and reducing attachment instability. This result provides practical implications for interventions that target the reduction of smart device overdependence in young children. In other words, such interventions should simultaneously aim to improve mothers’ negative parenting behaviours and improve young children’s attachment instability. While parents should restrict young children’s excessive use of smart devices, parents should also avoid negative parenting styles, such as criticising and stigmatising, that may hinder their young children’s development of attachment stability. This is in line with the argument that positive behaviours should be properly rewarded with compliments and acceptance to modify young children’s problem behaviours [
44], while conversely, young children’s needs should be assessed, and attachment instability should be improved based on emotional attentiveness [
23]. This also supports the argument that young children’s problem behaviours caused by ignorance, boredom, and frustration should be corrected by simply teaching them or changing their direction of interest [
44]. Hence, even if young children’s use of smart devices cannot be completely avoided given the current challenges in engaging in outdoor activities, it is necessary to enforce proper limits. These may include setting an allowed screen time [
12]. In the future, interventions that ameliorate mothers’ parenting behaviours and reduce young children’s attachment instability should be offered.
Other activities that can replace smart devices should be developed. Thus, based on our findings, we recommend attachment-building play. Play is a useful means to improve attachment instability between a caregiver and young children [
45]. Even if negative parenting behaviours have damaged their attachment, both the caregivers and young children are in an equal position during play and participate in compliance with democratic rules of play. Moreover, it does not necessarily require professional tools [
46]. Thus, based on our findings, we suggest further studies to develop and evaluate the effects of interventions consisting of attachment-building play on smart device overdependence in young children.
Our study shows that mothers’ emotional intelligence was not directly associated with preschoolers’ smart device overdependence but was instead directly related to mothers’ negative parenting behaviours and indirectly to preschoolers’ attachment instability. This shows that it is essential to boost emotional intelligence in mothers, that is, the ability to identify and control one’s own emotions to lower their negative parenting behaviours and preschooler’s attachment instability. In addition, the mother’s emotional sensitivity and responsiveness are emphasized as important factors to reduce attachment instability [
23], and in order to increase the mother’s emotional sensitivity and responsiveness, it is desirable to increase the mother’s emotional intelligence [
47]. This will contribute to a long-term, lasting reduction of young children’s dependence on smart devices. However, emotional intelligence can only be improved with a thorough understanding of emotional intelligence and training to enhance emotional sensitivity [
47], and not simply by ‘converting’ negative emotions [
48]. Thus, it is necessary to provide interventions that improve maternal emotional intelligence based on a deep understanding of emotional intelligence.
Meanwhile, in order to reduce young children’s overdependence on smart devices, it is also important to improve the related perceptions and knowledge of mothers [
30]. However, the results of this study confirming that mothers’ low emotional intelligence is related to overdependence on smart devices in young children provide important implications. Increased perception and knowledge of threats can cause anxiety [
31], and this may perception of the young child’s overdependence on smart devices or knowledge of the harmful effects caused by overdependence. However, mothers with low emotional intelligence and poor communication skills cannot effectively control negative emotions, which can lead to negative parenting behaviours such as yelling, threatening, or stigmatizing. This discussion is in line with the argument that anxious mothers impose more punishment on their young children [
49]. Based on this study, these negative parenting behaviours can lower young children’s attachment to their mother and increase overdependence on smart devices in young children, and mothers who need more attention due to low emotional intelligence and their children can suffer more than others. These discussions suggest that interventions to improve perception and knowledge about smart device overdependence should be systematically prepared by carefully considering emotions and variables related to smart device overdependence. The results of this study are evidence of the importance of emotions with regard to overdependence on smart devices.
Based on this study, even if the ultimate goal is to reduce young children’s smart device overdependence, it is necessary to assess and improve mothers’ emotional intelligence and negative parenting behaviours as independent variables. In addition, assessing and reducing preschoolers’ attachment instability would be an effective way to foster decrease in preschoolers’ smart device overdependence in the long term.
Mothers’ smart device usage time was negatively correlated with young children’s smart device overdependence, contradicting previous findings [
12]. Possibly, the higher percentage of working mothers as compared to stay-at-home mothers in our study and the consequent increase in household income may have led to more participation in other activities instead of using a smart device. Additionally, as many mothers worked at home to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19, their use of a smart device would have been primarily work-related [
50]. This would have led to a difference in young children’s social learning as they observed their mother using a smart device [
12].
This study has several limitations. First, we did not survey reasons for mothers’ smart device use, so we could not examine the effects of such reasons on young children’s smart device overdependence. Second, we could not examine the effects of the subfactors of each parameter; consequently, the explanatory power of the sub-variables could not be clearly understood, and there may be a bias in the parameter values [
34]. Finally, as the data were only collected in Korea and used a convenience sampling method, the generalizability of the findings may be limited. Therefore, based on the discussion in this study, future studies should ask questions about reasons for using smart devices along with the time mothers use smart devices, and follow-up studies in other countries should be conducted.
Nonetheless, this study sheds light on the specific variables to be considered in smart device overdependence among young children and the direction of interventions needed to reduce the repercussions of smart device overdependence, as the use of smart devices among young children is inevitable in the modern world. In particular, this study has high structural validity for the importance of mothers’ emotional intelligence in smart device overdependence among young children and for the relationships of mothers’ emotional intelligence on young children’s smart device overdependence through the mediation of mothers’ negative parenting behaviours and young children’s attachment instability using structural modelling. The findings of this study will serve as valuable foundational data for parental education and for experts in multiple disciplines who work with parents.
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.