Reinwand Dominique A, Crutzen Rik, Zank Susanne
Rehabilitative Gerontology, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Cologne, Germany.
Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Department of Health Promotion, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
Digit Health. 2018 Jun 5;4:2055207618779715. doi: 10.1177/2055207618779715. eCollection 2018 Jan-Dec.
The internet can be used as a source to gain information or support during highly demanding circumstances, e.g. providing informal care. While internet use has been studied among older people, less is known about informal caregivers' online behaviour. This study aims to explore differences in internet use regarding online activities between informal caregivers and non-caregivers.
We used data of the Dutch Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel (2014), including people aged 65 and older ( = 1413). To test differences with regard to 15 common internet activities; descriptive statistics and tests were conducted.
The sample included 1197 participants aged 65 and older, and 325 (27.2%) were identified as informal caregivers. It was found that informal caregivers played more online games ( (1, 1198) = 6.20, = 0.01), while non-caregivers more often read online news ( (1, 1198) = 4.44, = 0.04) and were more active on social network websites ( (1, 1198) = 5.07, = 0.02) compared to their counterparts.
Based on a representative sample, the results show that informal caregivers do not use the internet more for information seeking, but more often for playing online games, which may indicate that the internet is used to compensate for stress. Further research is needed to identify how informal caregivers can be supported by online services.
在诸如提供非正式照料等需求极高的情况下，互联网可作为获取信息或支持的来源。虽然已对老年人的互联网使用情况进行了研究，但对于非正式照料者的在线行为却知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨非正式照料者与非照料者在互联网使用的在线活动方面的差异。
我们使用了荷兰社会科学纵向互联网研究小组（2014年）的数据，其中包括65岁及以上的人群（n = 1413）。为了测试在15种常见互联网活动方面的差异，进行了描述性统计和检验。
样本包括1197名65岁及以上的参与者，其中325人（27.2%）被确定为非正式照料者。研究发现，非正式照料者玩网络游戏的频率更高（χ²(1, 1198) = 6.20，p = 0.01），而非照料者相比之下更常阅读在线新闻（χ²(1, 1198) = 4.44，p = 0.04），并且在社交网站上更活跃（χ²(1, 1198) = 5.07，p = 0.02）。
基于一个具有代表性的样本，结果表明非正式照料者并非更多地利用互联网来寻求信息，而是更经常用于玩网络游戏，这可能表明互联网被用于缓解压力。需要进一步研究以确定在线服务如何能够为非正式照料者提供支持。
