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Cell Phone Use and Parents' Satisfaction with Time Spent with Family

Smale, Megan E.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1308581240

Abstract Details

2011, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Sociology.
This study focuses on parents’ cell phone usage and family quality. I use cross- sectional data from the Networked Families Survey (N=417), a subcomponent from a larger study, the Pew Internet & American Life Project. I examine whether frequency of parents’ cell phone usage (i.e., phoning and texting) to children and spouses affects their degree of satisfaction with time spent with the family, which is an important indicator of quality of family life. The integration of technology into personal and professional communication has become an important topic of scholarship in academia. Technology is changing social interactions. Currently 78% of Americans without children under the age of 18 own a cell phone, and that percentage increases to 91% when children under the age of 18 are present in the home. As cell phone use becomes integrated into Americans’ daily lives, it is important to understand its effects on family relationships and satisfaction with family life. I find that cell phone use has no significant relationship to satisfaction with time spent with family. Having dinner with the family and satisfaction with time spent with family was significantly associated, which follows the previous literature. Previous research does suggest that being distracted during this time of connection can detract from any positive effects of eating dinner together, and this might explain the lack of significant effect of technology on family life. Future research should evaluate when cell phones are used to stay in contact and when cell phones are used when with the family to distract.
Monica Longmore (Committee Chair)
Gary Oates (Committee Member)
Raymond Swisher (Committee Member)
63 p.
Sociology
new communication technology; family life; cellular phones

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Smale, M. E. (2011). Cell Phone Use and Parents' Satisfaction with Time Spent with Family [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1308581240

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smale, Megan. Cell Phone Use and Parents' Satisfaction with Time Spent with Family. 2011. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1308581240.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smale, Megan. "Cell Phone Use and Parents' Satisfaction with Time Spent with Family." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1308581240

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1308581240
10,657
© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.