Department of Population and Labor Economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China.
School of Public Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China.
Front Public Health. 2021 Jul 16;9:673368. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.673368. eCollection 2021.
The Internet has become an important part of daily life. However, older adults in China remain digital refugees amid the rapid development of digital information technology. This study attempts to scientifically answer how Internet use affects the subjective welfare of older adults. Using data from the 2014 and 2016 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS), a combination of ordinary least squares, ordered logit regression models, and propensity score matching (PSM) models were used to analyze the effects of Internet use on the mental health of Chinese older adults. Our findings suggest that Internet use affects the mental health of older adults and increases the incidence of their depressive symptoms. These findings are robust to changing the key indicators, research method, and sample. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that the negative effects on mental health are more evident for specific groups of older adults, such as those who are women, younger and middle-aged, high-income, non-rural Hukou, less educated, and living with others. Cultivating the ability of older adults to use the Internet and maintain a rational attitude while doing so can prevent its negative impact on their life satisfaction. Moreover, it can improve their attitudes toward using the technology and reduce their anxiety.
互联网已经成为日常生活的重要组成部分。然而，在中国，老年人在数字信息技术飞速发展的情况下仍然是数字难民。本研究试图科学地回答互联网使用如何影响老年人的主观福利。
利用 2014 年和 2016 年中国纵向老龄化社会调查（CLASS）的数据，采用普通最小二乘法、有序逻辑回归模型和倾向得分匹配（PSM）模型，分析了互联网使用对中国老年人心理健康的影响。
我们的研究结果表明，互联网的使用会影响老年人的心理健康，增加其抑郁症状的发生率。这些发现对于改变关键指标、研究方法和样本都是稳健的。进一步的异质性分析表明，互联网使用对特定群体的老年人心理健康的负面影响更为明显，例如女性、中青年人、高收入、非农村户口、受教育程度较低和与他人同住的老年人。
培养老年人使用互联网的能力，并在使用过程中保持理性态度，可以防止其对生活满意度产生负面影响。此外，它可以改善他们对技术的态度，减少他们的焦虑。
