Cellphones stress out parents just like kids, study finds: ‘Constant connectivity comes at a cost’

Parents are stressed out just like kids because they are often absorbed and distracted by their constantly pinging mobile phones, a University of Michigan Medicine study has found.

Busy working parents find there are many conveniences to their mobile devices — but that the daily digital notifications from their screens also cause anxiety, according to the research.

The study’s results come as many school districts are pushing to ban students from accessing their distracting cell phones during the school day.

Parents received an average of almost 300 mobile notifications daily between 2020-2021, the study found. 

Those parents who participated in the study picked up their phones on average 93 times a day. 

“We know that parents of young kids are often multi-tasking,” said lead author Tiffany Munzer, a developmental behavioral pediatrician at the university’s Health Mott Children’s Hospital. “The disruptions from screens has added an additional layer to that challenge of trying to respond to multiple demands at the same time.

“Parents are often juggling parenting and home life with work and other responsibilities simultaneously. It makes sense that feeling pulled away by phones may bring additional stress,” Munzer said.

The study included 62 parents of 62 children ages 4 to 6 and took place during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The average age of parents was 37.

The research found the parents experienced more notifications and phone pick-ups than in previous studies, which researchers believe was because of greater media use during the pandemic and the need to potentially monitor related news. 

Stress was higher on weekdays, suggesting the content of notifications may have also driven parent stress, said senior author Jenny Radesky, also a behavioral developmental pediatrician.

“This may have been especially true in the context of multi-tasking between work and at-home or online school demands during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

“Still, these findings give us a glimpse into how distractions from phone demands may affect day to day parental stress.”

Stress is the price parents pay for having a high-tech smart phone that connects them to just about anything at any time, researchers said.

“We’ve all experienced that untimely ping on our phone. Sometimes it’s just a nuisance, but it could also be the crucial message we’ve been waiting for, even if it wakes us up or disrupts our focus,” said Dr. Marschall Runge, CEO of Michigan Medicine and executive vice president of medical affairs at the university.

“In today’s always-connected world, there’s an expectation to be reachable 24/7, but this constant connectivity comes at a cost: distraction, stress, and even depression,” Runge said.

But the doctor said the opposite could be worse — people freaking out for losing access to their phone.

“For many, not having access to their phone is even more stressful, a condition known as nomophobia,” he said.