Communication network activity: Network attributes of the young and elderly

This manuscript details a study aimed at preliminary exploration of the relationship between aging and changes in communication network composition and quality. Two age groups (young and elderly) were asked to recall their interpersonal communication for two days. Subjects also completed a relational assessment instrument for each person they communicated with. The results suggest that the elderly, as compared to the young, engage in greater communicative contact with their families and that the level of contact with non‐family network members is less. In addition, the elderly's level of solidarity with non‐family members is lower than that for the young. However, levels of family solidarity do not differ between these groups. Positive relationships exist between communication network contact and solidarity for both groups. However, inverse relationships were found when network composition was considered. As contact with family increased, friendship contact and solidarity declined. On the basis of these findings, a dialectic model is proposed that reflects a tendency to maintain a homeostatic level of communication network activity.

Key concepts:

• Aging
• communication networks
• friendship
• family relationships