265950 Seeking relationships online: Older women's lived experiences

Monday, October 29, 2012

Carla L. VandeWeerd, PhD , Department of Community and Family Health, University of South Florida, College of Public Health, Tampa, FL
Jaime Corvin, PhD, MSPH , Global Health, Univeristy of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Martha L. Coulter, DrPH MPH MSW , Department of Community and Family Health, University of South Florida, College of Public Health, Tampa, FL
Elizabeth Perkins, PhD., RNMH , Florida Center for Inclusive Communities; Department of Child and Family Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Ali Yalcin, PhD , College of Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Bonnie L. Yegidis, PhD, MSW , School of Social Work, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Jaime L. Myers, MPH, CHES , Department of Community and Family Health, University of South Florida, College of Public Health, Tampa, FL
Mary Ivory , College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Margaret M. Kennedy, BA , School of Social Work, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Maria Rodriguez, BA , Department of Community and Family Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Online dating has become increasingly popular in the last 10 years. Despite common misperceptions, older adults are also engaging in online relationship seeking. Currently, over 138,000 women ages 50 and older are listed as relationship seeking on Myspace alone. However, little is known about older women who use the internet to seek relationships. A recent pilot study found that women using Myspace to seek relationships experienced adverse events such as financial exploitation, threats, and physical harm at higher rates than when seeking relationships with individuals they knew in person. This study seeks to build on these preliminary findings to understand the lived experience of older women using social networking sites to seek relationships. A random sample of publically available Myspace profiles of women 50+ in the Tampa Bay area were identified. These women were contacted via their secure Myspace email to participate in a one hour telephone interview regarding their experiences seeking relationships online. Interviews were recorded on a digital audio recorder, transcribed, and analyzed in NVIVO. Themes were identified using a combination of a priori and inductive coding. Interviews were coded for information shared online, knowledge of privacy settings, positive and negative online dating interactions, experiences of intimate partner violence, and precautions taken to decrease vulnerability while seeking relationships online, and differences among subgroups were explored. Study findings will inform the development of a dating toolkit for older women seeking relationships online designed to decrease their online vulnerability.

Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1.Describe women’s opinions regarding the positive and negative aspects of online dating. 2. Assess the relative risk of online dating as compared to traditional dating. 3.Discuss potential areas for intervention to decrease the online vulnerability of dating seniors.

Keywords: Aging, Internet

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Project Coordinator for the study and a PhD candidate at the University of South Florida.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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