Table 2.
Association of the number of family instant message (IM) chat groups (N=1638) and use (N=1180) with family communication, family functioning, and family well-being.
| Variable | Respondents, n (%) | Family communication quality (10-50), adjusted β (95% CI) | Family functioninga (0-10), adjusted β (95% CI) | Family well-being (0-10), adjusted β (95% CI) | |||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Model 1b | Model 2c | Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 1 | Model 2 | |||||||
| Number of family IM groups | |||||||||||||||
|
|
0 | 458 (28.0) | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | |||||||
|
|
1 | 356 (21.7) | .82 (–.76 to 2.42) | .64 (–.88 to 2.15) | .70 (.17 to 1.24)** | .20 (–.55 to .96) | .27 (.04 to .49)* | .11 (–.16 to .38) | |||||||
|
|
2 | 273 (16.7) | 1.02 (–.67 to 2.72) | .86 (–.75 to 2.48) | .52 (–.06 to 1.10) | .19 (–.62 to .99) | .39 (.14 to .64)** | .21 (–.09 to .51) | |||||||
|
|
≥3 | 551 (33.6) | 2.39 (1.01 to 3.76)*** | 2.04 (.72 to 3.35)** | 1.40 (.91 to 1.89)*** | 1.09 (.43 to 1.75)*** | .61 (.40 to .82)*** | .39 (.15 to .64)** | |||||||
|
|
P for trend |
|
<.001 | .002 | <.001 | .001 | <.001 | .001 | |||||||
| Number of received IM from family chat groups/day | |||||||||||||||
|
|
<1 | 94 (8.0) | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | |||||||
|
|
1-2 | 338 (28.7) | 3.81 (1.21 to 6.40)** | 2.73 (.22 to 5.24)* | 1.32 (.44 to 2.21)** | .41 (–.84 to 1.66) | .25 (–.10 to .59) | .03 (–.36 to .43) | |||||||
|
|
3-10 | 533 (45.3) | 4.32 (1.85 to 6.78)*** | 3.35 (.97 to 5.73)** | 1.74 (.89 to 2.59)*** | .84 (–.35 to 2.03) | .57 (.24 to .90)*** | .35 (–.03 to .72) | |||||||
|
|
11-20 | 110 (9.4) | 6.76 (3.53 to 10.01)*** | 5.39 (2.25 to 8.52)*** | 2.30 (1.26 to 3.33)*** | 1.17 (–.39 to 2.72) | .81 (.40 to 1.23)*** | .78 (.28 to 1.28)* | |||||||
|
|
>20 | 102 (8.7) | 6.28 (3.23 to 9.32)*** | 4.96 (2.01 to 7.91)*** | 2.72 (1.66 to 3.79)*** | 1.64 (.17 to 3.11)* | .93 (.51 to 1.36)*** | .79 (.30 to 1.27)* | |||||||
|
|
P for trend |
|
<.001 | <.001 | <.001 | .007 | <.001 | <.001 | |||||||
| Number of sent IM in family chat groups/day | |||||||||||||||
|
|
<1 | 192 (16.3) | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | |||||||
|
|
1-2 | 503 (42.7) | 2.70 (.86 to 4.53)** | 2.46 (.70 to 4.22)** | .80 (.17 to 1.43)* | .68 (–.19 to 1.56) | .44 (.19 to .69)*** | .39 (.10 to .68)** | |||||||
|
|
3-10 | 410 (34.8) | 3.83 (1.90 to 5.75)*** | 3.13 (1.27 to 4.99)*** | 1.35 (.70 to 2.01)*** | 1.11 (.19 to 2.03)* | .68 (.42 to .94)*** | .57 (.27 to .87)*** | |||||||
|
|
11-20 | 49 (4.2) | 5.93 (2.61 to 8.19)*** | 5.32 (2.24 to 8.40)*** | 1.71 (.57 to 2.86)*** | 1.11 (–.41 to 2.63) | 1.24 (.77 to 1.72)*** | 1.34 (.79 to 1.89)*** | |||||||
|
|
>20 | 25 (2.0) | 4.34 (.11 to 8.57)* | 3.50 (–.55 to 7.55) | 2.90 (1.33 to 4.47)*** | 2.96 (.95 to 4.97)** | .78 (.15 to 1.42)** | .62 (–.09 to 1.33) | |||||||
|
|
P for trend |
|
<.001 | .001 | <.001 | .002 | <.001 | <.001 | |||||||
| Frequency of family IM chat interactiond | .83 (.47 to 1.19)*** | .69 (.34 to 1.04)*** | .36 (.23 to .48)*** | .27 (.10 to .44)** | .16 (.11 to .21)*** | .15 (.09 to .21)*** | |||||||||
aFamily functioning assessed on the Family Adaptability, Partnership, Growth, Affection, and Resolve (APGAR) scale.
bRegression model 1: adjusted for sex, age, education attainment, family income, and marital status.
cRegression model 2: additionally adjusted for the frequency of face-to-face family communication (often, sometimes, seldom, or never).
dComposite variable, frequency of family IM chat interaction (range 0-8), sum of the number of messages received from IM chat groups and number of messages of sent in IM chat groups per day.
*P<.05; **P<.01; ***P<.001.