A new study found that adolescents perceive their caregivers as frequently distracted by devices.
A teenager tries to talk about a difficult day at school while a parent scrolls through a feed. A family dinner gets interrupted by a notification that someone answers immediately. A teen tries to hold eye contact during a serious conversation and loses it to a buzzing phone.
These moments can feel minor when they happen. According to a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, they may not be minor at all.
What the research found
The study surveyed 600 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 across the United States, asking them to assess how often their primary caregivers seemed distracted by digital devices during family interactions. Participants were asked whether a parent appeared more attentive to a phone than to an in-person conversation, whether device use interrupted family time, and whether they felt they were competing with a device for attention.
The researchers then assessed what developmental psychologists call attachment styles, the emotional framework through which a person understands whether the important people in their lives are reliably available. The findings showed that teens who reported more device-related interference from caregivers were more likely to report insecure attachment patterns, specifically greater anxiety about relationships and a tendency to withdraw emotionally. The association held regardless of whether the teen was describing a mother figure or a father figure, and appeared consistently across ages, gender, race, and ethnicity.
What insecure attachment actually means
Attachment describes how confident a person feels that the important adults in their life will be responsive when needed. A securely attached teenager does not need a parent available at every moment, but does need to trust that genuine connection is possible when it matters.
Insecure attachment takes different forms. Anxious attachment involves worrying about rejection, seeking repeated reassurance, and feeling uncertain about the stability of close relationships. Avoidant attachment involves pulling away emotionally and becoming reluctant to depend on others.
Adolescence is often thought of as a period when teenagers naturally seek independence from their parents, but that does not mean parental responsiveness stops mattering. Research consistently links secure attachment during the teenage years to better mental health, healthier peer relationships, and greater emotional resilience as young people enter adulthood.
What the study does and does not prove
The research has important limitations that matter for how it should be read. The study did not measure actual caregiver phone use or track screen time in any objective way. It measured adolescent perception, how much teens felt that devices were getting in the way. That distinction is meaningful.
The association the study found cannot establish cause and effect. It is possible that device distraction contributes to less secure attachment. It is equally possible that families already experiencing communication difficulties perceive more interference from devices. Parents under significant stress may reach for their phones more often and simultaneously have less emotional availability for their children, making it difficult to separate the two factors. Teenagers who are already struggling with insecure attachment may also be more attuned to what feels like parental unavailability.
What the study adds is a data point consistent with a broader body of research suggesting that attentive, responsive interaction matters for healthy development. Today’s parents are the first generation raising children while carrying smartphones virtually everywhere they go, and the long-term effects of that reality on family relationships are still being understood.
What families can actually do about it
The practical response to this research does not require parents to eliminate phone use, which is neither realistic nor necessary. What young people need is not constant availability but reliable periods of genuine attention when they feel that the adult in front of them is fully present.
Establishing device-free times and spaces is one concrete approach. Meals, family activities, and bedtime routines are natural anchors for phone-free connection. When work or other responsibilities require phone use during family time, communicating that clearly and following up with dedicated attention afterward can prevent children from interpreting the distraction as indifference.
Modeling the behavior matters too. Reaching for a phone out of boredom or habit rather than necessity sends a message that accumulates over time, even when no single moment feels significant.
The warning signs worth watching for include children who stop bringing up concerns, gradually become more withdrawn, or express repeatedly that they do not feel heard. Those patterns are worth taking seriously.