HURME Helena Hurmea, WESTERBACK Susanne, QUADRELLO Tatiana
Journal article citation:
Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 8(3), September 2010, pp.264-280.
Publisher:
Routledge
Place of publication:
Philadelphia
Contact between grandchildren and grandparents is the medium for communication and social interaction. Research suggests that there is a relationship between the amount of contact, the emotional closeness and the well being of the grandparent. This study looked at the way new technologies affect these contacts and the impact of the “digital age divide” in a sample of Finnish grandparents (n=60,
Contact between grandchildren and grandparents is the medium for communication and social interaction. Research suggests that there is a relationship between the amount of contact, the emotional closeness and the well being of the grandparent. This study looked at the way new technologies affect these contacts and the impact of the “digital age divide” in a sample of Finnish grandparents (n=60, mean age 71 years, 46 grandmothers) and in a separate sample of 125 Finnish grandchildren between 11-13 and 16-17 years of age. Age, gender, education, the geographical distance between the two generations, and four factor scores of grandparenting style were used as predictors of the types of contact frequency. There was a significant relation between the proximity between the generations (measured in time) and all forms of contact frequency. There were fewer face-to face contacts, landline phone contacts, and mobile contacts the farther away the generations lived but more letters and/or cards (use of communication over the internet was marginal and not included in the analysis). In the grandchild sample, the farther away the generations live, the less the grandchildren used text messaging. Perhaps paradoxically, those with a more formal grandparenting style saw their grandchildren less often. The results did not support the assumption that satisfaction with the grandparent role was related to higher contact frequency.
Subject terms:
information technology, intergenerational relationships, mobile phones, communication, family relations, grandparents;