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A Typology of U.S. Emerging Adults’ Online and Offline Connectedness with Extended Family

A Typology of U.S. Emerging Adults’ Online and Offline Connectedness with Extended Family Emerging adulthood has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, in part due to the widespread adoption of communication technology. Despite studies showing that youth in the United States are communicating with extended family using technology, research on online interactions with non-parental relatives is lacking. Framed by intergenerational solidarity theory, this study identifies subgroups of U.S. emerging adults (N = 532; 18–29 years old) based on eight indicators of connectedness with extended family. Latent class analysis revealed four group: (1) Highly connected (18%), (2) Distant; technologically connected (36%), (3) Close; technologically connected (17%), and (4) Distant (28%). Participants identified cousins and aunts/uncles most frequently as extended family. Results show that 72% of participants are connecting with extended family online, even when they do not feel close to them. Findings support the idea that technology could be the means by which extended family members continue to play a role in the lives of young adults, especially when they are not seeing them frequently in-person. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Adult Development Springer Journals

A Typology of U.S. Emerging Adults’ Online and Offline Connectedness with Extended Family

Journal of Adult Development , Volume OnlineFirst – May 13, 2023

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References (56)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
ISSN
1068-0667
eISSN
1573-3440
DOI
10.1007/s10804-023-09452-9
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Emerging adulthood has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, in part due to the widespread adoption of communication technology. Despite studies showing that youth in the United States are communicating with extended family using technology, research on online interactions with non-parental relatives is lacking. Framed by intergenerational solidarity theory, this study identifies subgroups of U.S. emerging adults (N = 532; 18–29 years old) based on eight indicators of connectedness with extended family. Latent class analysis revealed four group: (1) Highly connected (18%), (2) Distant; technologically connected (36%), (3) Close; technologically connected (17%), and (4) Distant (28%). Participants identified cousins and aunts/uncles most frequently as extended family. Results show that 72% of participants are connecting with extended family online, even when they do not feel close to them. Findings support the idea that technology could be the means by which extended family members continue to play a role in the lives of young adults, especially when they are not seeing them frequently in-person.

Journal

Journal of Adult DevelopmentSpringer Journals

Published: May 13, 2023

Keywords: Extended family; Technology; Connectedness; Latent class analysis; Emerging adulthood

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