Deepali Nongmaithem and Asem Babina Devi
Manipur University, Imphal
Pages: 61-68
To examine how digital technology and internet use influence parent-child relationships.
Background: The rapid changes in human lives due to the easy accessibility, adoption
of the internet, and technology have shaped the human-to-human relationship. With
technology being the dominant part of everyday life, it raises concerns about the potential
disruption in family relationships, especially between parents and their children. Studies
across different ages and cultures are collected using databases like Google Scholar,
PubMed, and PsycINFO. The studies and their findings are organised thematically,
focusing on attachment, technoference, interaction quality, etc. A good parent-child
relationship or having secure attachment acts as a buffer towards overuse of digital
technology and problematic internet use. However, insecure attachment and a lack of
communication between parent and child lead to negative emotional and behavioural
outcomes, while a few studies show that shared media use and parents using technology
can release stress and improve parent-child bonding. Parental involvement in children’s
media use, sharing children’s activities, and balancing internet or digital technology
use are the keys to maintaining a good parent-child relationship and regulating emotions.
Proper attention towards their children’s emotional needs, engaging more in traditional
activities, improves parent-child bonding