Investigation of Parents' Level of Phubbing with Their Views on Phubbing Behaviours of Their Children

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the level of sociotelism of parents with children in early childhood and their perspectives on their children's phubbing (sociotelism) behaviours. The research was designed using a simultaneous nested model of mixed design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The study group for the research consisted of 183 parents with children in early childhood. The Personal Information Form prepared by the researchers, the Generic Scale of Phubbing adapted into Turkish by Orhan Göksün (2019), and the Phubbing (Sociotelism) in Early Childhood Questionnaire prepared by the researchers to explore parents' views on the phubbing behaviours of children in early childhood were used as data collection tools in the study. In the analysis of the data obtained from the Phubbing (Sociotelism) in Early Childhood Questionnaire prepared by the researchers, a weighted mean was calculated for the Likert-type questions, and content analysis was used for the open-ended questions in the questionnaire. When the mean scores obtained from the Generic Scale of Phubbing were examined, it was found that the mean from the nomophobia sub-dimension was relatively higher than the other sub-dimensions (personal conflict, self-isolation, and problem awareness). In line with the qualitative findings obtained from the study, it was observed that parents' children mostly used mobile phones in a controlled or regulated manner. Parents stated that the reasons for their children's phone use were primarily loneliness or boredom, and they expressed dissatisfaction with their children's phone use. It was determined that parents mostly had difficulties due to their children's problem behaviours in using phones, had insufficient knowledge about the applications on the phones, had difficulty controlling the content, and felt inadequate in providing alternative activities instead of using phones.