ArticleThe Gerontologist2020
Technology-Mediated Communication in Familial Relationships: Moderated-Mediation Models of Isolation and Loneliness.
Article in The Gerontologist, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed.
- Social interactions and loneliness in daily life: A study of younger adults and cognitively diverse older adults.Developmental psychology · 2026Article
- Relationships between In-person and Digital Social Interactions with Family and Friends and Loneliness among Older Adults in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the 2024 JACSIS.Annals of geriatric medicine and research · 2026Article
- Smartphone use in older adults with dementia.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2026Article
- Reconfiguring home language practices in AI-mediated environments: a layered communication perspective on language transmission, affect, and multilingual communication.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- How does disability contribute to deprivation in ageing process: a multidimensional analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Social disconnectedness and depressive symptoms across age groups: findings from a non-probability sample of employed U.S. adults.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Successful Aging Across Middle Versus High-Income Countries: An Analysis of the Role of eHealth Literacy Associated With Loneliness and Well-Being.The Gerontologist · 2024Article
- Perceived Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Social Support Resources of Frail Older People Ageing in Place Alone in Italy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Enduring Bonds: Duration and Contact in Close Relationships in Late Life.The Gerontologist · 2024Article
- The Mediating Role of Sense of Control in the Associations Between Remote Contacts and Loneliness Among Older Adults.Research on aging · 2024Article
- The impact of digital communication and offline social interactions on depressive symptoms in Chinese older people.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- What kind of a problem is loneliness? Representations of connectedness and participation from a study of telepresence technologies in the UK.Frontiers in digital health · 2024Article
- Remote Communication and Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Can Digital Communication Protect Against Depression for Older Adults With Hearing and Vision Impairment During COVID-19?The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2023Article
- Digital Practices by Citizens During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From an International Multisite Study.JMIR mental health · 2023Article
- Digital media in intergenerational communication: Status quo and future scenarios for the grandparent-grandchild relationship.Universal access in the information society · 2022Article
- Progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities.Healthcare management forum · 2022Article
- 'The threat is in all of us': Perceptions of loneliness and divided communities in urban and rural areas during COVID-19.Journal of community psychology · 2022Article
- Physical distancing is related to fewer electronic and in-person contacts and to increased loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic among older Europeans.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2022Article
- Perceived changes in social contact during COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.Personal Relationships · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesWe 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
methodsWe 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).
resultsProximity 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 families.
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