0세 자녀를 둔 어머니의 양육스트레스가 스마트폰 과의존에 미치는 영향: 어머니의 자녀 가치의 조절효과

Parenting Stress and Smartphone Overdependence in Mothers of Infants: The Moderating Role of Mothers’ Perception of Child Value

This study examined the relationship between parenting stress among mothers of infants and smartphone overdependence and asks whether mothers’ perception of child value moderates this association. The study sample consisted of 2,363 mothers of infants (< one year old) who participated in the 2022 Korean Early Childhood Education and Care Panel (KECEC). Moderation analysis was conducted using Hayes PROCESS Macro (version 4.2, Model 1) with 5,000 bootstrap resamples and 95% confidence intervals. Parenting stress and child value were mean-centered to construct the interaction term. The results showed that higher parenting stress significantly predicted greater smartphone overdependence. Notably, this association varied depending on perceived child value. Mothers who placed greater value on their children reported lower overall smartphone overdependence under low-stress conditions, whereas under high-stress conditions, the increase in smartphone overdependence was more pronounced. This crossover interaction suggests that perceiving high value in one’s child may serve as a psychological buffer when stress is low but may intensify vulnerability under elevated stress, possibly due to heightened emotional investment and regulatory burden. These findings highlight the need for interventions that integrate stress management strategies with reflective guidance on digital habits, particularly for mothers who are highly invested in parenting. Programs that normalize “good-enough” caregiving and build offline social support networks may help prevent maladaptive smartphone use while sustaining healthy parent–child engagement. Future research should explore longitudinal patterns and develop tailored intervention strategies based on individual differences in mothers’ perception of child value.