Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Intergenerational Digitally Mediated Relationships: How Portuguese Young Adults Interact with Family Members Over 65+

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Technology in Everyday Living (HCII 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 13331))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Considering the issue of population ageing, its differences and inequalities, also in a pandemic context, this paper aims to explore intergenerational digital mediation relations and practises in Portugal. Therefore, this research departs from the following questions: (RQ1): How do Portuguese young adults interact online with family members over 65+?; (RQ2): Do digital relationships across generations promote active citizenship participation? The survey has a representative sample (N = 1500) of the Portuguese population of young adults between 18 and 30 years old. Results show that the most frequent activities to interact with relatives over 65 years old are a) sending messages through mobile apps (48.67%); b) using social media (48.66%); c) making audio calls with them via mobile apps such as WhatsApp or Messenger (46.45%) and d) encouraging them to look for reliable information on the Internet (44%). The study’s main conclusion is that the Portuguese context suggests intergenerational solidarity associated with technologies helps combat social isolation, promote autonomy, and prevent dependence within older generations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. PORDATA Homepage. https://www.pordata.pt/Portugal/Popula%C3%A7%C3%A3o+residente+total+e+por+grandes+grupos+et%C3%A1rios-513. Accessed 07 Dec 2021

  2. Van Jaarsveld, G.M.: The effects of COVID-19 among the elderly population: a case for closing the digital divide. Front. Psychiatry 11, 577427 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Chadwick, A.: The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power. University Press, Oxford (2017)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Schrøder, K.C.: Audiences are inherently cross-media: audience studies and the cross-media challenge. CM Komunikacija i mediji 6(18), 5–27 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Amaral, I.: Redes Sociais: Sociabilidades Emergentes. Editora LabCom.IFP, Covilhã (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Gurevitch, M., Coleman, S., Blumler, J.G.: Political communication: old and new media relationships. Ann. Am. Acad. Pol. Soc. Sci. 625(1), 164–181 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Silva, M.T.D., et al.: Audiências e cross-media: estudo de padrões de consumo de notícias em Portugal. Estudos em Comunicação 25, 177–199 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Boyd, D.: É Complicado. As Vidas Sociais dos Adolescentes em Rede. Relógio DÁgua, Lisboa (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Brites, M.J.: Jovens e culturas cívicas: Por entre formas de consumo noticioso e de participação. Labcom, IFP, Covilhã (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Couldry, N., Markham, T.: Public connection through media consumption: between oversocialization and de-socialization? annaçs Am. Acad. Polit. Soc. Sci. 608(1), 251–269 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Couldry, N., Livingstone, S., Markham, T.: Media Consumption and Public Engagement: Beyond the Presumption of Attention. Palgrave Macmillan, Londres (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Helles, R., Ørmen, J., Radil, C., Jensen, K.B.: Media audiences—the media landscapes of European audiences. Int. J. Commun. 9(21), 299–320 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Aroldi, P., Colombo, F.: Questioning ‘digital global generations’ A critical approach. North. Lights: Film Media Stud. Yearb.ook 11(1), 175–190 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Dolničar, V., Hrast, M. F., Vehovar, V., Petrovčič, A.: Digital inequality and intergenerational solidarity: the role of social support in proxy internet use. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Taipale, S., Petrovcic, A., Dolnicar, V.: Intergenerational solidarity and ICT usage: empirical insights from Finnish and Slovenian families. Routledge Key Themes in Health and Society (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Azevedo, C., Ponte, C.: Intergenerational solidarity or intergenerational gap? How elderly people experience ICT within their family context. Observatorio (OBS*) 14(3), 16–35 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Amaral, I., Daniel, F.: The use of social media among senior citizens in portugal: active ageing through an intergeneration approach. In: Zhou, J., Salvendy, G. (eds.) ITAP 2018. LNCS, vol. 10926, pp. 422–434. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92034-4_32

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. WHO: Active Ageing - A Policy Framework, Geneva, Switzerland (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Daniel, F., Antunes, A., Amaral, I.: Representações sociais da velhice. Análise. Psicológica 33(3), 291–301 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Daniel, F., Caetano, E., Monteiro, R., Amaral, I.: Representações sociais do envelhecimento ativo num olhar genderizado. Análise Psicol. 34(4), 353–364 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Paúl, C. A.: construção de um modelo de envelhecimento humano. In Paúl, C., Fonseca, A. (Orgs.), Envelhecer em Portugal, psicologia saúde e prestação de cuidados. Climepsi, Lisboa (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Cabral, M. V., Ferreira, P. M., Silva, P. A., Jerónimo, P., Marques, T.: Processos de envelhecimento em Portugal: Usos do tempo, redes sociais e condições de vida. Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos, Lisboa (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Amaral, I., Daniel, F., Abreu, S.G.: Policies for gender equality in Portugal: contributions to a framework for older women. Revista Prisma Soc. 22, 346–363 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Daniel, F., Simões, T., Monteiro, R.: Representações sociais do «envelhecer no masculino» e do «envelhecer no feminino». Ex aequo 26, 13–26 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Attewell, P.: Comment: the first and second digital divides. Sociol. Educ. 74(3), 252–259 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Hargittai, E.: Second-level digital divide: mapping differences in people's online skills. arXiv preprint cs/0109068 (2001)

  27. Van Deursen, A.J., Helsper, E.J.: The third-level digital divide: who benefits most from being online? In: Communication and Information Technologies Annual. Emerald Group Publishing Limited (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Norris, P.: Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2001)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  29. Loos, E.: Generational use of new media and the (ir)relevance of age. In: Colombo, F., Fortunati, L. (eds.) Broadband Society and Generational Changes, pp. 259–273. Peter Lang, Berlin (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Loos, E., Bergstrom, J. R.: Older adults. In: Eye Tracking in User Experience Design, pp. 313–329 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Colombo, F., Fortunati, L.: Broadband Society and Generational Changes. Peter Lang, Frankfurt (2011)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  32. Mannheim, K.: The problem of generation. In: Mannheim, K. (ed.) Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge, pp. 276–320. Routledge Kegan Paul, London (1952)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Aroldi, P.: Generational belonging between media audiences and ICT users in broadband society and generational changes. In: Colombo, F., Fortunati, L. (eds.), pp. 51–68. Peter Lang, Frankfurt (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Corsten, M.: The time of generations. Time Soc. 8(2.3), 249–272 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Aroldi, P., Colombo, F.: Generational belonging and mediascape in Europe. JSSE-J. Soc. Sci. Educ. 6(1), 34–44 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Bolin, G.: Media Generations: Experience, Identity and Mediatised Social Change. Routledge, Abingdon (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Bolin, G., Skogerbø, E.: Age, generation and the media. North. Lights 11, 3–14 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Kõuts-Klemm, R., Brites, M.J.: How digital converges cross-media news typologies across countries: a comparative study of news consumption in Estonia and Portugal. Participations 14(2), 464–483 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Brites, M.J.: Jovens e culturas cívicas: Por entre formas de consumo noticioso e de participação. Editora LabCom.IFP, Covilhã (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Burnay, C., Ribeiro, N.: As novas dinâmicas do consumo audiovisual em Portugal. ERC–Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social. Portugal (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Pacheco, L., Torres da Silva, M., Brites, M.J., Henriques, S., Damásio, M.J.: Patterns of European youngsters' daily use of media. Observatorio 11(4), 1–18 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Amaral, I., Brites, M. J.: Trends on the digital uses and generations. In: Proceedings of INTED2019 Conference, Valencia (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Comunello, F., Fernández Ardèvol, M., Mulargia, S., Belotti, F.: Women, youth and everything else: age-based and gendered stereotypes in relation to digital technology among elderly Italian mobile phone users. Media Cult. Soc. 39(6), 798–815 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Hagberg, J.E.: Being the oldest old in a shifting technology landscape. In: Haddon, L., Mante-Meijer, E., Loos, E. (eds.) Generational Use of New Media, pp. 107–124. Routledge, London (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Napoli, A.: Social media use and generational identity: issues and consequences on peer-topeer and cross-generational relationships - an empirical study. Particip. J. Audience Recept. Stud. 11(2), 182–206 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Kalogeropoulos, A., Levy, D., Nielsen, R.K.: Reuters Institute digital news report 2017. Available at SSRN 3026082 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Nielsen, R.K., Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Kalogeropoulos, A.: Reuters institute digital news report 2019. Report of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Amaral, I.: Citizens beyond Troika: media and anti-austerity protests in Portugal. Int. J. Commun. 14(21), 3309–3329 (2020). 1932-8036/20200005

    Google Scholar 

  49. Roberto, M.S., Fidalgo, A., Buckingham, D.: De que falamos quando falamos de infoexclusão e literacia digital? Perspetivas dos nativos digitais. Observatorio (OBS*) 9(1) (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  50. Sinclair, T.J., Grieve, R.: Facebook as a source of social connectedness in older adults. Comput. Hum. Behav. 66, 363–369 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Quinn, K.: Cognitive effects of social media use: a case of older adults. Soc. Media Soc. 4(3), 1–9 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  52. Silverstein, M., Bengtson, V.L.: Do close parent-child relations reduce the mortality risk of older parents? J. Health Soc. Behav. 32(4), 382–395 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Bengtson, V. L., Roberts, R. E.: Intergenerational solidarity in aging families: an example of formal theory construction. J. Marriage Family 53, 856–870 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Taipale, S.: Intergenerational solidarity. In: Taipale, S. (ed.) Intergenerational Connections in Digital Families, pp 103–114 (2019). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11947-8_8

  55. Patrício, M. R., Osório, A.: Intergenerational learning with ICT: a case study (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  56. Lee, O.E.K., Kim, D.H.: Bridging the digital divide for older adults via intergenerational mentor-up. Res. Soc. Work. Pract. 29(7), 786–795 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Financial support from Portuguese national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) in the framework of the project “Mediated young adults’ practices: advancing gender justice in and across mobile apps” (PTDC/COM-CSS/5947/2020).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Inês Amaral, Ana Marta Flores & Eduardo Antunes

  2. Communication and Society Research Centre of the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Inês Amaral & Ana Marta Flores

  3. NOVA Institute of Communication, Lisbon, Portugal

    Maria José Brites

  4. CICANT, Lusófona University, Porto, Portugal

    Maria José Brites

Authors
  1. Inês Amaral
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ana Marta Flores
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eduardo Antunes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Maria José Brites
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Inês Amaral .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Qin Gao

  2. Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

    Jia Zhou

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Amaral, I., Flores, A.M., Antunes, E., Brites, M.J. (2022). Intergenerational Digitally Mediated Relationships: How Portuguese Young Adults Interact with Family Members Over 65+. In: Gao, Q., Zhou, J. (eds) Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Technology in Everyday Living. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13331. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05654-3_23

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05654-3_23

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-05653-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-05654-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation