Call Home? Mobile Phones and Contacts With Mother in 24 Countries

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12342
• Author: Zoya Gubernskaya,Judith Treas
• Published date: 01 October 2016
• Date: 01 October 2016

Z G University at Albany SUNY

J T University of California Irvine∗

Call Home? Mobile Phones and Contacts With

Mother in 24 Countries

This article explores how the diffusion of

mobile phones is associated with commu-

nication between adult children and their

mothers. The article analyzes 2001 Interna-

tional Social Survey Program data from 24

countries (N =12,313) combined with the

country-level data on the prevalence of mobile

phones. Net of individual-level predictors and

country wealth, adult children who resided in

countries with high prevalence of mobile phones

contacted their mothers more frequently. High

prevalence of mobile phones was also associ-

ated with larger differences in maternal contact

by gender and smaller differences by education.

These ndings suggest that any impact of new

communication technology on intergenerational

relations is complex.

Parent–child relationships in adulthood are

important for the well-being of both generations.

The two-way exchange of money and informal

services constitutes a valuable resource, which

is often activated in time of need (Attias-Donfut,

Ogg, & Wolff,2005; McGarry & Schoeni, 1995;

Department of Sociology, Universityat Albany, SUNY, 351

Arts & Sciences Bldg., 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY,

12222 (zgubernskaya@albany.edu)

∗Department of Sociology, Universityof California, Irvine,

3151 Social Science Plaza, Irvine, CA 92697.

Key Words: communication technology, cross-national

research, demography, intergenerational relations, social

support, social trends.

Suitor, Sechrist, Gilligan, & Pillemer, 2011).

With rapid population aging and mounting con-

cerns about possible declines in family support

for older people in many countries, understand-

ing the factors behind intergenerational contact

and support is important.

Previous research has investigated how

sociodemographic characteristics of parents

and adult children are related to the scope and

intensity of intergenerational contact (Crim-

mins & Ingegneri, 1990; Dewit, Wister, &

Burch, 1988; Grundy & Shelton, 2001; Lawton,

Silverstein, & Bengtson, 1994). Fewer studies

have explored how intergenerational contacts

have changed over time. Surprisingly, despite

predicted declines in intergenerational solidarity

(Treas, 1977; Uhlenberg, 1993), research has

found an increase in maternal contact over the

past few decades in severalcountries (Kalmijn &

De Vries, 2009; Treas & Gubernskaya, 2012).

Running against prevailing theoretical consider-

ations and unexplained by either demographic

or ideational changes (Treas & Gubernskaya,

2012), the increase in contacts with mothers is

puzzling.

This article emphasizes a factor that is largely

missing from the discussion of intergenerational

solidarity—the rapid development and diffusion

of new communication technologies. Early on,

theorists speculated that mobile phones had

the potential to change the nature of family

relations. By reducing the impediments to kin

solidarity, they would permit greater interaction

between family members, particularly those

Journal of Marriage and Family 78 (October 2016): 1237–1249 1237

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12342