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Emerging Technologies and Family Communication: The Case of International Students

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Abstract

Families with members living in different countries have embraced emerging technologies but little is known of the impact of mediated communication among these families. Economic globalization and the emergence of accessible information communication technologies have been parallel to the unprecedented number of higher education students who now travel abroad to study. Understanding the students’ experience may expand our knowledge on how the adoption of emerging technology is shaping transnational family relationships. In this study, international students were interviewed to share their perspectives of how mediated family communication may impact their wellbeing. Students from 14 countries and attending a university in Spain participated in 12 in-depth interviews and one focus group (n = 10). Overall, the results suggest emerging technologies enable the maintenance of close relationships, foster a sense of connectedness, and help students to better adapt to a new environment. Students’ choices of technology are influenced by accessibility factors and cost. The type of relationship students have with their families seem to become more pronounced with interactions mediated by emerging technology. Since members of the younger generation may be more technologically literate than their predecessors, a shift in the role of who controls the use of and supplies advice about technology is manifest, with young adults advising parents about technology choices. Therefore, the control of the communication—i.e., frequency and length—is transferred from parents to students. According to students, mediated family exchanges strengthen their physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. However, the continuous availability of the technology among family members may also be stressful.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Maria Cámara, postdoctoral, and student assistants Allison McNulty, Gipson Vergeshe, and Nathalie Thomas, for their support in conducting interviews, and transcribing and analyzing the data. We also like to express our gratitude for the support of the University’s International Relations Office, International Spanish Center, and Master’s degree in International Humanitarian Action at the University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA

    Gonzalo Bacigalupe

  2. University of Applied Sciences of Special Needs Education, Zurich, Switzerland

    Iris Bräuninger

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  1. Gonzalo Bacigalupe
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Correspondence to Gonzalo Bacigalupe.

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Bacigalupe, G., Bräuninger, I. Emerging Technologies and Family Communication: The Case of International Students. Contemp Fam Ther 39, 289–300 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-017-9437-7

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