Walls covered with long black curtains, neon lights on the ceiling, a large stuffed animal in the shape of a frog in the corner. In the center of this small room with spartan decoration, a high chair and a chair face each other. We are in the BabyLab within the House of Research of the University of Letters in Aix-en-Provence, researchers there study the development of babies and children.
This Wednesday, April 2, Margot, in her thirties, and Paulo, 6 months, are settling down to participate in a scientific experiment. The young mother and her son will be filmed for ten minutes in this sealed room. In the next room, a lecturer, Céline Scola, and a master’s student and an intern scrutinize the screen.
Reply to a text message with your baby
Since 2021, a research team has been welcoming mothers with children to the BabyLab to study the way in which interruptions due to smartphones and technoreferences modify their relationships and their exchanges. “We chose to study the behavior of babies aged six months to plus or minus three weeks, this is a pivotal age in terms of interaction. They are able to perceive and distinguish a person and the object they are holding in their hand. explains Céline Scola, lecturer in child development psychology who co-directs this study with Marianne Jover.
The ten minutes during which mothers and children face each other are interrupted twice by the mother’s smartphone. The research team sends a text message to which the mother is obliged to respond and then a call which she must also take. “It’s about simulating a natural conversation.”Céline Scola further specifies.
That day, Margot and Paulo play in front of the cameras while the text message vibrates the phone. Naturally, Margot continues to communicate with her son while writing a response. Same maternal reaction during the call. Meanwhile, the little boy, still very smiling, begins to look elsewhere, suddenly interested in the black walls… Before regaining his mother’s full attention.
After recording, the researchers will spend eight hours analyzing, image after image, the behavior of the mother and child. “We measure a lot of parameters, for example the activity of the baby’s foot, the mother’s gaze, etc.”
A massive phenomenon
To complete this study, the team must repeat this experiment with fifty duos “valid”. During the ten minutes of the experiment, the child must not cry and must remain in his or her high chair. It is too early to draw initial conclusions, but the research team started from the hypothesis that these interruptions were not without consequences on the child’s behavior. “We are convinced that babies adapt and we want to see how.”
Since the start of the experiment, the babies’ reactions have been very different. “Some children show some annoyance, others have no reaction. One of them seemed relieved when the mother stopped the interaction with him”underlines the lecturer.
Several studies have focused or are underway to measure the impact of technoreferences on young children. A study showed that six out of ten mothers recognize that their smartphone regularly interferes with their interactions, particularly during moments of free play. “These interferences are frequent, the more these mothers report poorer co-parenting, relationship dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms,” report the authors of the article “Screen and technoference in babies aged 6 to 12 months” published in the scientific journal Contrastes in 2023.
In this same article, these researchers show that the phenomenon of technoferences is massive, based on their own study. They questioned 242 parents about their uses: 42% of parents said they left their phone on, 56% left it on but silent in the presence of their baby. Only 7 parents turn it off. A phenomenon whose frequency is known but whose full implications on children we have not yet measured.
Advance research
The research team of Céline and Marianne Jover are looking for mothers and babies aged six months (plus or minus three weeks) to continue this experiment. If you would like to participate, you can register on the Babylab website.
A study on parental burnout is also underway. Parents, and fathers, in particular, can answer an online questionnaire on the subject.
