Seniors often do not feel good about virtual contact with their relatives. (Graphic: imtmphoto / Shutterstock)
Two sociologists from Lanchester University (UK) and British Columbia (Canada) examined the data from two longitudinal studies. They evaluated the data from 5,148 over-60s from the United Kingdom and 1,391 from the USA, which had been collected before and during the pandemic. The scientists Yang Hu and Yue Quian come to the conclusion that replacing personal contact with virtual paths is psychologically damaging to older adults (60 plus). But that’s not all: On average, those affected were even worse off than those who had no contact at all during the corona crisis. Dr. Hu said in Frontiers in Sociology magazine, “We expected virtual contact to be better than total isolation, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with older people.”
Mental wellbeing decreased
The results underline the importance of face-to-face interactions, which are particularly important for the elderly . The study is one of the first to compare social contacts and their psychological effects. She comes to the conclusion that the senior citizens’ stress of having to deal with unknown technology may have played a major role. Even older people familiar with the technology found its extensive use so stressful that it was more damaging to their mental health than dealing with isolation and loneliness. Hu explains, “It is not just loneliness that has been exacerbated by virtual contact, but overall mental health: These people were more depressed, more isolated, and felt more unhappy as a direct result of their use of virtual contact.”
Virtual contact cannot replace personal contact
According to the study, the best mental health was found in seniors who had frequent contacts both personally and virtually. Despite slight regional differences, the results of Hu and Quian confirm that, in general, individual and direct contacts between households are fundamentally important for psychological well-being. The data from the pandemic lockdowns made it clear how strongly this applies in crises.
