Not at the Dinner Table: Caregiver Engagement with Personal Devices and
Their Child in Restaurants
Abstract
This observational study of caregiver engagement with personal devices
and their child in family-friendly restaurants compared Canadian
families with past studies to determine parent-child communication and
parental levels of engagement with their personal device in the presence
of their child; and the accuracy of the hypothesized result of a
negative relationship between the number of people seated together and
the duration of time each individual spends on a personal device. More
specifically, to note if larger gatherings of people seated together in
family-friendly restaurants is associated with decreased time spent on
personal electronic devices for caregivers. The study compared Canadian
data with data collected in similar studies conducted in Europe and the
United States to help inform psychologists, social workers and other
caregivers who work with parents of children aged 12 and under.