Mapping The Family Network Of Emerging Adults: Closeness With Extended Family And The Role Of Communication Technology
2018-05
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Mapping The Family Network Of Emerging Adults: Closeness With Extended Family And The Role Of Communication Technology
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2018-05
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Emerging adulthood is a unique life stage that has changed dramatically, in part due to the widespread adoption of communication technology. Despite studies showing that emerging adults are communicating with extended family using technology, research on connections with extended family is lacking. To address this gap, two studies explore emerging adults’ connectedness with extended family using intergenerational solidarity theory as the primary theoretical framework. In Study 1, a sample of emerging adults (18 – 29 years; n = 766) identified up to 12 family members (M = 7.98; SD = 3.85) who played a role in their life over the past year, categorizing them as “immediate” or “extended” family; the most frequent roles were cousin (17.3%), parent (17.1%), aunt/uncle (16.6%), and sibling (16.2%). A latent class analysis using the subsample of participants (n = 532) with at least one extended family member revealed four groups based on eight indicators of connectedness with extended family: 1) Highly connected (18%), 2) Close; technologically connected (17%), 3) Distant; technologically connected (36%), and 4) Distant (28%). Regression analyses and equality of means tests were conducted in Study 2 to explore predictor and outcome variables for class membership. Results showed differences by gender and college status. Participants in the “Close; technologically connected” class reported lower emotional, psychological, and social well-being than the “Distant” or “Distant; technologically connected” classes. Participants in the “Highly connected” class reported lower social well-being than the “Distant; technologically connected” class and lower psychological and social well-being than the “Distant” class. Findings support the idea that extended family members influence the lives of emerging adults and that technology is an important means of connecting. The typology that emerged from the latent class analysis supports the idea that both the opportunity to interact and the interactions themselves are different for in-person exchanges and online contact. In contrast with less frequent in-person interactions, nearly three-quarters of emerging adults reported frequent contact with extended family using technology, regardless of feelings of closeness or similarity with those relatives. Results support a view of family relationships that proposes value in varying levels of closeness and that lacking closeness with extended family may not be inappropriate during this life stage.
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University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2018. Major: Family Social Science. Advisor: Jodi Dworkin. 1 computer file (PDF); ix, 113 pages.
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Hessel, Heather. (2018). Mapping The Family Network Of Emerging Adults: Closeness With Extended Family And The Role Of Communication Technology. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/215181.
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