Understanding the experience of video calls in supporting social connection and communication in early childhood

• In Event: Is screen time family time? Media in the family system during COVID19

Abstract

Social connection supports positive mental health (Cruwys et al., 2014). However, a consequence of the COVID pandemic in 2020 is the dramatic decline in opportunities for person to person social connection. Globally, government policies have mandated strict rules related to physical proximity of individuals and drastically reduced the frequency with which children can interact with extended family who reside elsewhere. To maintain connection, the use of video chat platforms has surged as families take advantage of infants preferences for faces (Escudero, Robbins, Johnson, 2013), which increase across the first year of life (Frank et al., 2009). Many grandparents are meeting newborn grandchildren online while others are struggling to engage preschool aged grandchildren in video chat. But little is known about the amount of time families spend on video chats, and their experience using video chat to stay connected. This project investigates how parents of children ≤ 5 years of age incorporate video chats into their lives during the recent “lockdowns” in Australia.

The current survey study (May-July 2020) used a mixed methods approach to measure both quantitative and qualitative experiences with video chats to examine 1) usage and 2) benefits versus limitations experienced by parents (n = 139, Mage 31-35 years) and grandparents (n = 95, Mage 61-70 years) using video calls.

Preliminary examination of the survey responses showed that 72% of parents indicated that video chat was “very important” during the COVID-19 pandemic; only 20% indicated it was “somewhat important” and 20% rated it “slightly important”. The majority of parents (80%) and grandparents (77%) reported that video calls “benefited their child’s relationship” with family, only 6% of parents and 1% of grandparents said it “did not” benefit the child/ren. In a similar vein, 37% of parents and 48% of grandparents reported that video calls increased their child’s connection to family “very much”, 25% of parents and 26% of grandparents believed video chat increased their connection “somewhat” whilst 11% of parents and 4% of grandparents believed video chat did not increase their connection at all.

The overarching theme identified in the analysis of open-ended responses was “staying in touch - maintaining connection”. Around two thirds of grandparents and parents reported “staying in touch” or having “catch-ups” as the main purpose for video chats with children ≤ 5. Grandparents wanted to know children were growing “having visibility of their physical growth” and “getting to know newborn babies”, and parents wanted to know that their parents/parents-in-law were coping. It was important for grandparents to “feel part of their (grandchildren’s) lives”, “so he remembers who I am”. Both groups also identified many challenges including maintaining children's “attention span”, time zone differences, and lack of skills and difficulties using technology for older grandparents.

These results have implications on the role of video chat in connecting families and provides new insights into limitations that can be addressed with future research to improve the quality of video chat.

Authors

• Christa Lam-Cassettari, Western Sydney University
  Presenting Author

• Paola Escudero, Western Sydney University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Virginia Schmied, Western Sydney University
  Non-Presenting Author