Open Access

ARTICLE

Digital Distraction or Creative Catalyst? Parental Smartphone Use and Adolescent Creativity among Chinese Vocational Students

Min Qu^1,2,#, Xiumei Chen^1,3,#, Yue Zhou⁴, Xuelian Wang^5,6,*, I-Hua Chen^7,8,*

1 Faculty of Education, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, 273165, China
2 English Teaching and Research Group, No. 18 Senior High School of Zaozhuang, Zaozhuang, 277200, China
3 School of Information Engineering, Shandong Youth University of Political Science, Jinan, 250103, China
4 Student Development Office, Changzhou Wujin Lijia Senior High School, Changzhou, 213100, China
5 Yancheng Mechatronic Branch, Jiangsu Union Technical Institute, Yancheng, 224005, China
6 International College, Krirk University, Bangkok, 10110, Thailand
7 Chinese Academy of Education Big Data, Faculty of Education, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, 273165, China
8 Jiangxi Psychological Consultant Association, Nanchang, 330000, China

* Corresponding Authors: Xuelian Wang. Email: ; I-Hua Chen. Email:
# These two authors contributed equally to this work

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Causes, Consequences and Interventions for Emerging Social Media Addiction)

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2025, 27(7), 1029-1044. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2025.065876

Received 24 March 2025; Accepted 20 June 2025; Issue published 31 July 2025

Abstract

Background: Despite growing research on parental technology use and its impacts on adolescent development, the influence of parental smartphone behavior on creativity remains understudied. This study addresses this gap by examining how parental phubbing affects adolescent creativity, exploring both direct and indirect pathways through creative self-efficacy as a mediator and problematic smartphone use (PSU) as a moderator. Methods: A total of 9111 Chinese vocational school adolescents (60.3% male; mean age = 16.88 years) were recruited via convenience sampling. Participants completed validated self-report questionnaires assessing creativity, parental phubbing, creative self-efficacy, and PSU. A moderated mediation model was tested using jamovi with bootstrapping procedures (2000 resamples), controlling for gender, age, sibling status, and school type. Results: Creative self-efficacy significantly mediated the relationship between parental phubbing and adolescent creativity (indirect effect = 0.061, 95% CI [0.013, 0.109]), while the direct effect was non-significant. PSU moderated both pathways, revealing contrasting patterns: for adolescents with high PSU, parental phubbing showed positive associations with creative self-efficacy and creativity, whereas among those with low PSU, parental phubbing demonstrated negative associations with both outcomes. Conclusion: This study reveals the complex influence of parental phubbing on adolescent creativity, with effects contingent upon adolescents’ own digital engagement patterns. It emphasizes the need to balance guidance and autonomy in fostering creativity. While not endorsing phubbing, the findings challenge simplistic views of technology’s impact and stress the importance of individual differences. The results offer valuable insights for parents, educators, and policymakers supporting youth development in today’s digital family environments.

---

Keywords

---