TY - JOUR

T1 - Technology-Mediated Communication in Familial Relationships: Moderated-Mediation Models of Isolation and Loneliness

AU - Burholt, Vanessa

AU - Windle, Gill

AU - Gott, Merryn

AU - Morgan, Deborah Jane

AU - CFAS-Wales study team

N1 - This work (CFAS Wales study) was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (RES-060-25-0060) and Higher Education Funding Council Wales as “Maintaining function and well-being in later life: a longitudinal cohort study.”

PY - 2020/10/1

Y1 - 2020/10/1

N2 - Background and Objectives: We examined whether technology-mediated communication has functional or emotional equivalence to face-to-face (FtF) contact in familial relationships, by scrutinizing the effects of phone, text/e-mail, and video contact on isolation and loneliness. Research Design and Methods: We tested whether FtF contact with a relative would mediate the pathway between proximity to family and (i) isolation and (ii) loneliness. We then tested hypotheses that telephone, text/e-mails, and video contact would moderate this mediated pathway. We compared models for younger (<75) and older (≥75) cohorts, expecting to observe moderation effects for text/e-mail and video contact in the younger cohort only. Data were drawn from Wave 2 of CFAS Wales (United Kingdom) study (N = 2,099). Results: Proximity to a relative had a significant indirect effect on isolation and loneliness through the mediating variable FtF contact. Phone and text/e-mail contact moderated the effect of FtF contact on isolation for all samples. None of the technologies moderated the impact of FtF contact on loneliness for the full sample. Telephone contact had a moderating influence on loneliness for the younger cohort only. Video calls had no significant moderation effect. Discussion and Implications: Telephone and text/e-mail contact have functional equivalence to FtF contact in familial relationships. None of the forms of technological communication have emotional equivalence to the “gold standard” of embodied presence. The study demonstrates the importance of theorizing about the pathways to isolation and loneliness to better understand the likelihood of implementing successful interventions using technology-mediated communication within familie

AB - Background and Objectives: We examined whether technology-mediated communication has functional or emotional equivalence to face-to-face (FtF) contact in familial relationships, by scrutinizing the effects of phone, text/e-mail, and video contact on isolation and loneliness. Research Design and Methods: We tested whether FtF contact with a relative would mediate the pathway between proximity to family and (i) isolation and (ii) loneliness. We then tested hypotheses that telephone, text/e-mails, and video contact would moderate this mediated pathway. We compared models for younger (<75) and older (≥75) cohorts, expecting to observe moderation effects for text/e-mail and video contact in the younger cohort only. Data were drawn from Wave 2 of CFAS Wales (United Kingdom) study (N = 2,099). Results: Proximity to a relative had a significant indirect effect on isolation and loneliness through the mediating variable FtF contact. Phone and text/e-mail contact moderated the effect of FtF contact on isolation for all samples. None of the technologies moderated the impact of FtF contact on loneliness for the full sample. Telephone contact had a moderating influence on loneliness for the younger cohort only. Video calls had no significant moderation effect. Discussion and Implications: Telephone and text/e-mail contact have functional equivalence to FtF contact in familial relationships. None of the forms of technological communication have emotional equivalence to the “gold standard” of embodied presence. The study demonstrates the importance of theorizing about the pathways to isolation and loneliness to better understand the likelihood of implementing successful interventions using technology-mediated communication within familie

KW - Telephone

KW - Computer-mediated communication

KW - Social relationships

KW - Families

KW - CFAS Wales study

U2 - 10.1093/geront/gnaa040

DO - 10.1093/geront/gnaa040

M3 - Article

VL - 60

SP - 1202

EP - 1212

JO - Gerontologist

JF - Gerontologist

SN - 0016-9013

IS - 7

ER -