The present study investigates how patterns of family time change as a function ofcomputer ownership according to Hobfolls (1988) conservation of resources theory withspecific attention to sex differences in the types and nature of displaced family time. Groundedin Kraut and his colleagues (1998) findings that higher levels of loneliness, depression, andsocial isolation are linked to higher levels of computer and Internet use, the present studyexplores how family resource expenditure and investment related to computer use alter thepatterns of interactions between persons living in the same household. The present study usestime diary data from the Americans Use of Time study (AUT; Robinson, 1985), gathered priorto prevalent computer and Internet use, and from the Family Interaction, Social Capital, andTrends in Time Use study (FISCT; Robinson, Bianchi, & Presser, 1998-1999), gathered duringthe explosion of computer adoption, to compare how American adults spend their time (i.e.energy resources). MANOVAs determine main and interaction effects of the categoricalvariables (dataset, nature, with whom, sex, and computer ownership) between the AUT and theFISCT samples and between computer owners and non-owners within the FISCT sample on thetotal number of minutes spent per day in various activities None of the results of the analyses forthe hypothesized relationships were significant. Chapter 5 concludes the present study with adiscussion of the results, possible explanations for the discrepancies between hypothesizedresults and actual results, limitations of the study and directions for future research.