Effect of Communication Technology on Stress and Relationships

Study shares the top 10 takeaways of research on communication technology's effect on stress, loneliness, and relationships.

Research led by UNLV has found that compared to tech mediums (video chats, social media, and interactive video games), older technologies like voice calls and emails effectively ease pandemic loneliness and stress.

Natalie Pennington, //co-author, states, "Age, relationship status, and living situation were the three big factors that shifted how people were impacted by tech."

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‘Video chats were associated with increases in stress, loneliness, and relationship maintenance difficulties.’
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Prior research has shown that young adults are the most prone because older adults are used to some degree of social isolation, and the results of this study mirrored that.

Around 2,000 Americans from different geographics, ages, and racial/ethnic, educational, and socioeconomic backgrounds were surveyed about how they use communication technology to meet their social and psychological well-being needs and its impact on their relationships both inside and outside the home.

"Technology can help us, but it does force us to be creative in ways that we might not think of right away," said Pennington. "One of the biggest things that help is talking and thinking about and doing other things -- family game nights, family dinners, having fun with people during online Netflix parties, or just video chatting with people for a purpose and not talking about the pandemic."

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Top 10 most interesting findings from the stud:

1. Phone calls and texting were the most used and most important types of communication. The number of daily voice calls in April 2020 was two times that on the peak traffic day in 2019.

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2. Phone calls were associated with decreased levels of stress, loneliness, and relationship maintenance difficulties.

3. While video chats were associated with increases in stress, loneliness, and relationship maintenance difficulties.

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4. The modalities most strongly associated with stress were social media posting, commenting, and sharing.

5. People in romantic relationships reported less loneliness and stress compared to those who were not. However, those in romantic relationships were also more likely to experience stress-related to social media posting.

6. Being sheltered in one place with others resulted in a greater perception of loneliness and stress and more difficulty with relationship maintenance.

7. However, living alone was not associated with stress, loneliness, and maintenance difficulties.

8. Using emails decreased loneliness in older and middle-aged adults but increased loneliness in young adults (under 29).

9. Surprisingly, online gaming was associated with greater stress and more relationship maintenance challenges. Pennington believes this could be due to people's attempts to escape their pandemic realities via online gaming but leaving their emotional needs and social connections unattended at the same time.

10. Lastly, across all individuals, the research team found that people who engaged in face-to-face interactions were the least stressed and lonely.

Source-Medindia