Family E-Chat Group Use Was Associated with Family Wellbeing and Personal Happiness in Hong Kong Adults amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 18(17)2021 08 30.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1390603
ABSTRACT
Instant messaging (IM) is increasingly used for family communication amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. However, evidence remains scarce on how family e-chat groups were used and their associations with family and individual wellbeing amidst the pandemic. The numbers of family e-chat groups, functions used, and messages sent and received daily in groups were reported by 4890 adults in May 2020, and their associations with family wellbeing and personal happiness and the mediation effect of family communication quality were examined. Results showed that sending/receiving text messages was most commonly used, followed by receiving/sending photos/pictures, making voice calls, receiving/sending short videos and voice messages, and making video calls. Women and older people used more non-text functions. Higher levels of family wellbeing and personal happiness were associated with having more groups, receiving/sending photos/pictures, video calls, more IM functions used, and more IM messages received/sent daily. Forty-six point two to seventy-five point five percent of their associations with more groups and more functions used were mediated by family communication quality. People having more family e-chat groups and using more IM functions may be more resilient amidst the pandemic, while those without or with low use of family e-chat groups amidst the pandemic would need more attention and assistance in the presence of social distancing.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Text Messaging
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph18179139
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