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Internet Use and Loneliness of Older Adults Over Time: The Mediating Effect of Social Contact
[The relation between social network site usage and loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling older adults]

Author

Listed:
  • Kexin Yu
  • Shinyi Wu
  • Iris Chi
  • Deborah Carr

Abstract

ObjectivesThe internet is increasingly commonly used by older adults. However, it remains controversial in the literature on whether older people are more or less lonely with internet adoption. The current paper aims to test the longitudinal association of internet use and loneliness and to theorize the relationship by examining the mediating effect of social contact.MethodThis study employed data from 2006, 2010, and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Loneliness was measured with the three-item UCLA loneliness scale, social contact was operationalized as contact frequency with family and friends, and internet use was measured using a self-assessed dichotomous item. Longitudinal associations and mediation effects were tested using hierarchical linear modeling.ResultsInternet use was associated with decreased loneliness over an 8-year period (b = −0.049, p

Suggested Citation

  • Kexin Yu & Shinyi Wu & Iris Chi & Deborah Carr, 2021. "Internet Use and Loneliness of Older Adults Over Time: The Mediating Effect of Social Contact [The relation between social network site usage and loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling ," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(3), pages 541-550.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:76:y:2021:i:3:p:541-550.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbaa004
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Liqing Li & Haifeng Ding & Zihan Li, 2022. "Does Internet Use Impact the Health Status of Middle-Aged and Older Populations? Evidence from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Borja Rivero Jiménez & David Conde-Caballero & Lorenzo Mariano Juárez, 2022. "Technological Utopias: Loneliness and Rural Contexts in Western Iberia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Lijuan Zhao & Lin Wu, 2022. "The Association between Social Participation and Loneliness of the Chinese Older Adults over Time—The Mediating Effect of Social Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Wang, Kun & Gu, Danan, 2023. "Reciprocal associations between social media use and self-perception of aging among older adults: Do men and women differ?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    5. Moira Mckniff & Stephanie M. Simone & Tania Giovannetti, 2023. "Age, Loneliness, and Social Media Use in Adults during COVID-19: A Latent Profile Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-12, May.

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