Technoference Interacts with Parenting Practices to Predict Children’s Attentional Control Indexed by Intraindividual Reaction Time Variability

Parenting practices and technoference are associated with the development of children’s attentional control. Intraindividual reaction time variability (IIRTV) is an index of executive brain function and attentional control. Nonetheless, no study has examined the direct and interactive relationship between parenting practices, technoference, and IIRTV. This study examined this phenomenon in a representative sample of the parents of 191 typically developing Chinese children (aged 8–10 years). Parents completed the technoference questionnaire and the Chinese version of the Alabama parenting questionnaire. Children’s attentional control was assessed by IIRTV in the Go/No-go and the heart and flower tasks. Resultantly, technoference and corporal punishment positively correlated with IIRTV. Technoference interacted with parenting behaviors to predict IIRTV. This study indicates that technoference has a direct negative association with the development of children’s attentional control. It may also moderate the relation between parenting practices and children’s attentional control.