Zhang Chong, Wang Yan, Wang Jing, Liu Xin
Institute of Network Society Governance, School of Marxism, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
School of Law and Sociology, XiHua University, Chengdu, China.
Front Psychol. 2022 Nov 15;13:999498. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.999498. eCollection 2022.
In recent years, China's Internet penetration rate has increased, and the scale of middle-aged and older adults' netizen has continued to expand. However, the impact of internet use on mental health remains controversial. This paper analyzes 14,497 middle-aged and older adults' valid respondents in the 2018 Chinese Family Panel Study (CFPS2018) to evaluate the impact of Internet use on the mental health of middle-aged and older adults and its intermediary mechanisms. The findings show that moderate use of the Internet can significantly reduce depression levels and boost cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults. But excessive internet use will also lead to increased levels of depression and decreased cognitive function. Different Internet use purposes will also lead to different psychological states. Online socializing, entertainment and business activities can significantly reduce depression levels and promote cognitive functions. Online studying and working only have positive effects on cognitive functions, which have no significant relationship to depression levels. In addition, analysis of the mediation effect found that life satisfaction is a path mechanism for Internet use and affect different dimensions of mental health.
近年来，中国互联网普及率有所提高，中老年网民规模持续扩大。然而，互联网使用对心理健康的影响仍存在争议。本文分析了2018年中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS2018）中14497名中老年有效受访者，以评估互联网使用对中老年心理健康的影响及其中介机制。研究结果表明，适度使用互联网可以显著降低中老年人群的抑郁水平，提高认知功能。但过度使用互联网也会导致抑郁水平上升和认知功能下降。不同的互联网使用目的也会导致不同的心理状态。在线社交、娱乐和商务活动可以显著降低抑郁水平，促进认知功能。在线学习和工作仅对认知功能有积极影响，与抑郁水平无显著关系。此外，中介效应分析发现，生活满意度是互联网使用影响心理健康不同维度的一条路径机制。
