Social function and psychological wellbeing among older Australian users of computer-mediated communication: does social distancing impact use?

Belinda G. Fuss, Diana Dorstyn and Lynn Ward

Behaviour and Information Technology, 2022, vol. 41, issue 14, 3001-3012

Abstract: Older adults were at particular risk for loneliness during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this instance, the use of computers for communication (i.e. computer-mediated communication, CMC) may help to enhance older people’s social interactions and relationships. In the present study, 113 community-dwelling users of CMC, aged 65 years and over, were surveyed in order to better understand the effects of CMC in addition to the individual characteristics contributing to patterns of online communication. An opportunity to examine the impact of the pandemic on CMC behaviours presented approximately 12 months after the initial study with 70 participants resurveyed. High levels of social functioning, in addition to good physical and psychological health, were reported by this group of digitally active users. A positive association between high CMC use and social functioning was noted, even after controlling for differences in personality, frequency of face-to-face communication, health, gender, and relationship status. Interestingly, the pandemic saw a reduction in weekly CMC use, although CMC-based behaviours remained unchanged. The present findings highlight the important role that technology has in facilitating and maintaining supports and, potentially, reducing social isolation by helping older adults stay in touch with family and friends.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1968952 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tbitxx:v:41:y:2022:i:14:p:3001-3012

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/tbit20

DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2021.1968952

Access Statistics for this article

Behaviour and Information Technology is currently edited by Dr Panos P Markopoulos

More articles in Behaviour and Information Technology from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().