Nimrod Galit
Department of Communication Studies and the Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Aging, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba, Israel.
Aging Ment Health. 2022 Mar;26(3):526-533. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2020.1861213. Epub 2020 Dec 18.
Older adults are largely ignored in studies of technostress (stress induced by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use). This study aimed at exploring individual and contextual antecedents to technostress among older ICT users.
Online surveys with ICT users aged 60 years and above were conducted in 2016 ( = 537) and during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 ( = 407), examining technostress level, internet use patterns and sociodemographic background. The 2020 survey also assessed a COVID-19-related Hostile World Scenario (HWS).
The two samples had very similar background characteristics, but participants in 2020 were more experienced and their internet use was significantly more diverse and intense than that of their predecessors. The factors predicting technostress in both samples were poorer health, fewer years of use, fewer hours of use per typical week and smaller use repertoire. The technostress level in 2020 was significantly higher than that of 2016-a finding explained by the COVID-19-related HWS.
Individual antecedents hardly vary in the presence of significant contextual antecedents, but HWS may leave users with fewer resources to cope with the negative effects of technology use. Future research should explore additional contextual factors and interventions that may alleviate technostress among seniors.
在技术压力（由信息通信技术（ICT）使用引发的压力）研究中，老年人基本被忽视。本研究旨在探究老年ICT用户技术压力的个体及情境前因。
于2016年（n = 537）和2020年新冠疫情期间（n = 407）对60岁及以上的ICT用户进行在线调查，考察技术压力水平、互联网使用模式及社会人口学背景。2020年的调查还评估了与新冠疫情相关的敌对世界情境（HWS）。
两个样本具有非常相似的背景特征，但2020年的参与者经验更丰富，其互联网使用比之前的参与者显著更多样化且更频繁。两个样本中预测技术压力的因素包括健康状况较差、使用年限较少、每周典型使用时长较少以及使用范围较小。2020年的技术压力水平显著高于2016年——这一发现可由与新冠疫情相关的HWS来解释。
在存在显著情境前因的情况下，个体前因变化不大，但HWS可能使用户应对技术使用负面影响的资源减少。未来研究应探索可能减轻老年人技术压力的其他情境因素及干预措施。
