Effect of Parental Phubbing on Child Development: A Systematic Review

The widespread use of digital technology has contributed to the growing prevalence of parental phubbing, raising concerns about its potential influence on children’s development.

This review synthesizes research from the past decade to evaluate empirical evidence on the effects of parental phubbing, identify the developmental domains most affected, explore potential mediating and moderating mechanisms, and clarify the developmental stages that have received research attention.

Following the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, ERIC, APA PsycArticles/APA PsycInfo, ProQuest, and Medline (EBSCOhost), resulting in the identification of a total of 895 articles. After applying inclusion criteria (English-language, research articles, Jan 2015–Feb 2026), 151 studies with over 100,000 participants were retained. The quality assessment of the identified studies was conducted using a relevance-based evaluation methodology.

Findings indicate that parental phubbing is predominantly associated with negative outcomes in children’s behavioral, social-emotional, cognitive, and physical development, with only a small number of studies reporting positive or non-significant associations. Most studies focused on adolescents, with fewer addressing younger children. Research was predominantly cross-sectional and concentrated in Asian contexts.

This systematic review highlights the significant effects of parental phubbing on multiple domains of child development and summarizes the age distribution of study populations. Findings provide insight into potential mediating mechanisms and practical implications for contemporary parenting practices. The review also identifies gaps in the literature and suggests directions for future research.