Video calls during deployment can worsen children’s separation distress.

Evidence

Even technologies like Skype and email that ease some of the challenges of separation can also backfire, Rogers found. “If you have an awful lot of Skyping, seeing Daddy over the television screen—and yet [a child says], ‘I can’t have him.’ ‘He’s not tucking me in.’ ‘I can’t put my arms around him.’ ‘You’re not watching my baseball game.’ That can really piss a kid off.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 455

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

• QUESTION: Counterintuitive finding that the very communication tech meant to help can backfire—worth investigating the research base for this.

Related

• Video calls can intensify children’s distress about an absent military parent (similarity 0.93)