School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China.
Front Public Health. 2024 Aug 27;12:1393651. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1393651. eCollection 2024.
The digital divide is the difference between individuals who use the Internet and those who do not. Under the triple social environment of urban-rural dichotomy, population aging, and the digital era in China, the existence of digital divide among rural older adults has seriously affected their access to health information through the Internet, so it is urgent to bridge the digital divide problem they face.
Based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory and Stress Coping Theory, the impact of cultural capital on the digital divide among rural older adults was systematically analyzed using hierarchical regression and Chained Mediation Effect Tests using data from the Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS).
Cultural capital has a significant positive effect on the digital divide among rural older adults ( = 0.178, < 0.01). Cognitive ability and economic capacity both play independent intermediary effects between cultural capital and digital divide among rural older adults, and the intermediary chain formed by the two plays a chain intermediary effect. The increase in the cultural capital of rural older adults has led to an increase in their cognitive ability and economic capacity, which ultimately has a favorable effect on the bridging of the digital divide. Heterogeneity results suggest that cultural capital is more effective in bridging the digital divide among male rural older adults aged 60-69.
Cultural capital is able to bridge the digital divide faced by rural older adults and is age and gender heterogeneous. At the same time, improved cognitive ability and economic capacity can also help rural older adults bridge the digital divide. Therefore, it is proposed that we increase the construction of public cultural service infrastructure in rural areas, liaise with community neighborhood committees and village committees to do a good job of publicity, improve training measures for key groups, and maintain the enthusiasm of rural older adults for learning, so as to provide references for the rural older adults in China and developing countries in general to bridge the digital divide.
数字鸿沟是指使用互联网的个人与不使用互联网的个人之间的差异。在中国城乡二元、人口老龄化和数字时代的三重社会环境下，农村老年人的数字鸿沟的存在严重影响了他们通过互联网获取健康信息，因此迫切需要弥合他们面临的数字鸿沟问题。
基于马斯洛的需求层次理论和压力应对理论，利用中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）的数据，采用层次回归和链式中介效应检验，系统分析了文化资本对农村老年人数字鸿沟的影响。
文化资本对农村老年人的数字鸿沟有显著的正向影响（ = 0.178， < 0.01）。认知能力和经济能力在文化资本与农村老年人数字鸿沟之间都发挥了独立的中介作用，两者形成的中介链发挥了链式中介效应。农村老年人文化资本的增加导致其认知能力和经济能力的提高，最终对数字鸿沟的弥合产生有利影响。异质性结果表明，文化资本在弥合 60-69 岁农村男性老年人的数字鸿沟方面更有效。
文化资本能够弥合农村老年人面临的数字鸿沟，且在年龄和性别上存在异质性。同时，认知能力和经济能力的提高也有助于农村老年人缩小数字鸿沟。因此，建议加大农村公共文化服务基础设施建设力度，与社区居委会和村委会做好衔接，做好重点人群的宣传工作，完善重点人群的培训措施，保持农村老年人的学习热情，为中国乃至发展中国家的农村老年人缩小数字鸿沟提供参考。
