Cui Shoukui, Jiang Junjie, Mu Liping
Department of Media and Communication, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia.
School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chonqing, 400715, People's Republic of China.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2024 Aug 26;17:3067-3081. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S467221. eCollection 2024.
With the advent of new media technology, WeChat, as China's largest social networking platform, has significantly impacted people's lives. Growing concerns exist about social media usage, particularly regarding mental health issues stemming from problematic smartphone use. However, limited research has explored the relationship between social media usage and mental health among older adults in China, particularly the mechanisms influencing this relationship. This study addresses this gap by investigating the relationship between excessive WeChat use and loneliness among older adults, examining the mediating roles of sensation seeking and fear of missing out (FoMO).
To clarify the intermediary role of sensation seeking and FoMO in the relationship between elderly loneliness and problematic phone use, this study employed the loneliness scale, brief sensation seeking scale, the scale of FoMO and WeChat overuse scale in a questionnaire survey on the Chinese elderly aged 55 to 89 (N=913). A chained mediation model was constructed, with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and mediation effect tests performed.
The results indicate that the relationship between loneliness and excessive WeChat use among Chinese elderly is mediated by sensation seeking and FoMO.
The findings reveal that loneliness, sensation seeking and FoMO and problematic mobile phone use (WeChat) are interconnected; (ii) sensation seeking and FoMO are the two important intermediary mechanisms between loneliness and problematic mobile phone use; and (iii) sensation seeking and FoMO can act as mediators in the relationship between loneliness and problematic mobile phone use among the elderly. In the difference test of demographic variables, it was found that women had more WeChat overuse behavior than men, and urban residents demonstrated significantly higher levels of overuse than their township residents. The study has revealed the psychological mechanism between loneliness and problematic mobile phone use among the elderly, which provides guiding suggestions for the prevention and intervention of such behaviors in the elderly.
随着新媒体技术的出现，微信作为中国最大的社交网络平台，对人们的生活产生了重大影响。人们越来越关注社交媒体的使用，尤其是因智能手机使用问题而引发的心理健康问题。然而，在中国，针对老年人社交媒体使用与心理健康之间关系的研究有限，特别是影响这种关系的机制。本研究通过调查老年人过度使用微信与孤独感之间的关系，探讨寻求刺激和错失恐惧（FoMO）的中介作用，来填补这一空白。
为了阐明寻求刺激和错失恐惧在老年人孤独感与手机使用问题之间关系中的中介作用，本研究对年龄在55至89岁的中国老年人（N = 913）进行问卷调查，采用孤独感量表、简短寻求刺激量表、错失恐惧量表和微信过度使用量表。构建了一个链式中介模型，并进行了描述性统计、Pearson相关分析和中介效应检验。
结果表明寻求刺激和错失恐惧在老年中国人孤独感与过度使用微信之间的关系中起中介作用。
研究结果表明：（i）孤独感、寻求刺激、错失恐惧和有问题的手机使用（微信）是相互关联的；（ii）寻求刺激和错失恐惧是孤独感与有问题的手机使用之间的两个重要中介机制；（iii）寻求刺激和错失恐惧在老年人孤独感与有问题的手机使用之间的关系中可起到中介作用。在人口统计学变量的差异检验中，发现女性微信过度使用行为比男性更多，城市居民的过度使用水平显著高于乡镇居民。该研究揭示了老年人孤独感与有问题的手机使用之间的心理机制，为老年人此类行为的预防和干预提供指导建议。
