College Students' Perceptions of Their Grandparents and Communication Technology Use

Abstract

Global aging has given rise to an increased longevity of grandchild–grandparent relationships parallel to a technological sophistication of college students. This descriptive study elicited the perceptions of 233 college students in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States about their grandparents using a 10-item Student Perceptions of Grandparent Scale (α 0.71). Degree of closeness to grandparent, weekly visits to grandparent, telephone communication with grandparent, and English as grandchild's first language predicted Student Perceptions of Grandparent Scale score (F(4,219) = 34.44, p = .000). In person, electronic and nonelectronic contacts were high. Recommendations include using young adults in multigenerational communication technology programs and research with diverse populations.

Keywords:

• intergenerational relations
• college students
• grandchildren
• grandparents
• communication technology

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by the Jeanne K. Buxbaum Endowment and the Delaware INBRE program, with a grant from the National Center for Research Resources (P20 RR016472-06), National Institutes of Health.