Parents that spend a lot of time on digital devices including phones or watching television during family activities such as meals, playtime, and bedtime, may lead children to show more frustration, hyperactivity, whining, sulking or tantrums.

This study concludes that electronic device use dampens the parent’s ability to provide meaningful emotional support and positive feedback to their children. This exacerbates behavior problems in the children which then causes the parents to withdraw to technology resulting in a vicious cycle.