Digital Literacy, Intergenerational Relationships, and Future Care Preparation in Aging Chinese Adults in Hong Kong: Does the Gender of Adult Children Make a Difference?

As populations continue to age, the demand for future care is expected to increase. Future care preparation is a form of proactive coping that can prevent or offset potential stressors related to the changing needs of older adults. Acquisition and preservation of resources are essential for effective proactive coping. Integrating social convoy theory, intergenerational solidarity theory, and proactive coping theory, this study assessed the level of digital literacy, quality of intergenerational relationships, and future care preparation in son-dominant, daughter-dominant, and gender-balanced families. The direct and indirect effects of digital literacy on future care preparation through intergenerational relationships were also examined. Data from 3,626 participants with at least one adult child were drawn from the Panel Study of Active Aging and Society conducted in 2022, which was designed to be a biennial study conducted with a representative sample of individuals aged 50 years and older in Hong Kong. Aging parents in son-dominant families had the highest levels of digital literacy; those in daughter-dominant families had the highest levels of intergenerational relationship quality and future care preparedness. Intergenerational relationship quality mediated the relationship between digital literacy and future care preparation in all three types of families, but the effect sizes differed. These findings suggest a need to enhance the digital literacy of aging adults and improve their intergenerational relationships, thereby assisting them to prepare in advance for their future care needs.