“Mommy, do you love your phone more than me?”: Parental device use and the adolescent-caregiver attachment bond

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 in a general population sample of U.S. adolescents. 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.