Between and Within-family Differences in Mothers’ Use of Technology to Interact with Adult Children

• In Event: 067 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 08. Creating and Maintaining Social Connection across the Life Course

Abstract

In this research, we used data from the Within-Family Differences Study to examine older mothers’ (ages 73-83) use of contemporary technologies—including emailing, text messaging and instant messaging—to maintain contact with their adult children. Findings revealed that 29% of the 396 older mothers in the study used technology to maintain contact with at least one adult child. We also examined mother and adult child level predictors of contact through the use of technology. Multilevel binary logistic regression modeling revealed that mothers with higher levels of education and better health were more likely to use technology to maintain contact with their adult children, whereas mother who were older, Black or Hispanic were less likely. Further, this analysis showed that mothers were more likely to use technology to maintain contact with children who lived further away, who had higher levels of education and who were parents themselves. These findings indicate that although older mothers utilize technology to maintain contact with adult children, this mode of intergenerational contact may be limited to a select group of mother-adult child dyads. Future research should consider the affordability and accessibility of technologies to older adults.

Authors

• Sangbo Nam, HDFS Iowa State

• Megan Gilligan, Iowa State University

• J. Jill Suitor, Purdue University

• Siyun Peng, Purdue University

• Brianna Routh, Iowa State University