From Parenting to Phone Dependency: Uncovering the Roots of Smartphone Addiction in Children

Abstract

Background: Smartphone addiction among school-going children is a growing public health concern with far-reaching consequences for academic achievement, social behaviour, and psychosocial well-being. Parental factors, including personality traits and parenting style, are fundamental in shaping children's digital self-regulation and technology use patterns. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between parental personality, parenting style, and children's smartphone addiction among parents of school-going children at a selected school in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

Methodology: A quantitative, cross-sectional, non-experimental descriptive design was adopted. The study was conducted among n = 113 parents of school-going children at a selected school of Varanasi, UP, selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a structured tool comprising four sections: (I) Socio-demographic Performa, (II) Big Five Personality Trait Checklist (10 items), (III) Parenting Style Questionnaire (15 items — authoritative, authoritarian, permissive subscales), and (IV) Children's Smartphone Addiction Scale (14 items, scored 0–3). Tools were validated by experts, and reliability was established prior to data collection (Cronbach's α reported for each subscale). Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered via Google Form. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson's correlation coefficient and Chi-square test) were applied at α = 0.05 level of significance using SPSS.

Results: Among the parenting styles, permissive attitude showed the highest mean score (15.4 ± 4.06), followed by authoritative (14.1 ± 3.91) and authoritarian (13.8 ± 3.90). Correlation analysis revealed that conscientiousness was significantly negatively correlated with children's smartphone addiction (r = −0.236, p < 0.01), and neuroticism showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.195, p < 0.05). All three parenting styles showed significant positive correlations with children's smartphone addiction: authoritarian (r = 0.425, p < 0.01), authoritative (r = 0.346, p < 0.01), and permissive (r = 0.278, p < 0.01). Among socio-demographic variables, only parents' daily mobile phone usage showed a statistically significant association with children's smartphone addiction (χ² = 13.597, df = 4, p = 0.009).

Conclusion: Parental personality traits and parenting style significantly influence smartphone addiction among school-going children. Conscientiousness emerged as a protective factor while neuroticism increased risk. Authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were associated with higher addiction levels. Parental mobile phone usage emerged as the single significant socio-demographic predictor. These findings underscore the need for parental awareness programmes and evidence-based digital parenting interventions in school and community health settings.