Parental phubbing linking to adolescent life satisfaction: The mediating role of relationship satisfaction and the moderating role of attachment styles

Background Parental phubbing and its effects on adolescents have recently begun to attract concern. Previous studies have shown that parental phubbing was associated with emotional and behavioral problems among adolescents. However, much less is known about the association between parental phubbing and youth life satisfaction, let alone the mediating and moderating mechanisms. Methods Self-reports of parental phubbing, satisfaction with the parent-adolescent relationship, life satisfaction, and attachment style were assessed in a sample of 303 Chinese teenagers (155 girls and 148 boys, M-age = 14.00, SDage = 0.86). Multiple regressions were applied to investigate the association between parental phubbing and adolescents' life satisfaction, the mediating role of adolescents' relationship satisfaction, and the moderating role of adolescents' attachment styles. Results Parental phubbing had a negative effect on adolescents' life satisfaction, yet this association was completely mediated by adolescents' relationship satisfaction. Besides, the association between parental phubbing and adolescents' relationship satisfaction was moderated by adolescents' attachment styles. Overall, the conditional effect of parental phubbing on adolescents' life satisfaction was significant among the preoccupied teens and the fearful teens but not significant among the secure teens and the dismissing teens. Conclusion Although parental phubbing has the potential to undermine youth well-being, the actual consequences for adolescents are variable, depending on their attachment orientations.