Citation

Yan Z. Child Dev. 2018; 89(1): 5-16.

Affiliation

University at Albany, State University of New York.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/cdev.12821

PMID

28485017

Abstract

This article addresses why children's use of mobile phones is an unparalleled complex developmental phenomenon in hopes of providing a broad context for this special section. It first outlines mobile phones as a sophisticated personalized and multifunction technology. Then it presents mobile phone use by children as an unparalleled complex developmental phenomenon on the basis of its four behavioral elements, two mobile cultures, and two developmental processes. It further illustrates the existing knowledge about children's mobile phones use that has been accumulated over the past 23 years and highlights 12 most studied topics, especially distracted driving and radiation exposure. It concludes with three types of scientific contributions made by the 12 articles in the special section.

© 2017 The Author. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Language: en