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The association between information and communication technologies, loneliness and social connectedness: A scoping review

Authors: Petersen BKhalili-Mahani NMurphy CSawchuk KPhillips NLi KZHHebblethwaite S


Affiliations

1 Laboratory for Adult Development and Cognitive Aging, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
2 Media Health Lab, Department of Design and Computation Arts, Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
3 McGill Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
4 Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation (CRIR), Lethbridge-Layton-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada.
5 Aging and Communication Technologies (ACT), Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
6 Laboratory of Cognition, Aging and Psychophysiology (CAP), Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
7 Department of Applied Human Sciences, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Description

Older adults are at a higher risk of loneliness, compared to other demographics. The use of Internet Communication and Technologies (ICTs) among older adults is steadily increasing and given ICTs provide a means of enhancing social connectedness suggests they may have positive effects on reducing loneliness. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review was to examine the research that explores how ICTs may be implicated in mitigating loneliness and increasing social connectedness among older adults. After the examination of 54 articles, we identified three major themes within the literature: (1) ICTs were associated with a reduction in loneliness and increase in wellbeing. (2) ICTs promoted social connectedness by facilitating conversations. (3) Factors such as training, self-efficacy, self-esteem, autonomy, and the design/features, or affordances, of ICTs contribute toward the associations between ICT use and wellbeing. The heterogeneity of methodologies, statistical reporting, the small sample sizes of interventional and observational studies, and the diversity of the experimental contexts underline the challenges of quantitative research in this field and highlights the necessity of tailoring ICT interventions to the needs and contexts of the older users.


Links

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37034933/

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1063146