Abstract / Summary
Grounded in family systems theory, this study examined associations between parental phubbing and two forms of preschoolers’ eating problems (picky eating and problematic mealtime behaviors) and the roles of family cohesion and parental dispositional mindfulness in these associations. Using a cross–sectional design, data were collected from 550 parents of preschoolers in Guangzhou, China. In a joint multivariate moderated mediation model, parental phubbing was positively associated with both outcomes at the bivariate level. At mean dispositional mindfulness, its adjusted direct association was significantly stronger for problematic mealtime behaviors than for picky eating. Supplementary simple mediation analyses indicated indirect associations through family cohesion for both outcomes. In the primary moderated model, however, the conditional indirect association through family cohesion was not statistically different from zero for picky eating at low, mean, or high mindfulness, whereas it was evident for problematic mealtime behaviors at mean and high mindfulness. Formal between-outcome differences in the cohesion-related indirect associations and indices of moderated mediation were not significant. Contrary to the hypothesized buffering pattern, higher dispositional mindfulness was associated with a stronger negative phubbing–cohesion association. Overall, the findings highlight modest and differentiated associations between parental phubbing and preschoolers’ eating difficulties and underscore the importance of considering parental technology use within the broader family-relational context.