Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.
Research Center of Big Data for Health Care Management, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.
Transl Psychiatry. 2024 Oct 11;14(1):430. doi: 10.1038/s41398-024-03142-0.
The burden of depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older Chinese during the COVID-19 pandemic is unclear, and the contribution of social media use to depressive symptoms in this population has not been studied. To address the gaps, we analyzed data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, nationally representative biannual surveys among adults aged ≥45 years. Social media use and depressive symptoms were measured in the 2018 and 2020 surveys. We tested longitudinal associations between baseline (2018) social media activities and risk of depressive symptoms in two years among 9121 participants without depressive symptoms. We also evaluated whether social media activity could reduce depressive symptoms during this period among 5302 individuals with depressive symptoms at baseline. Depressive symptoms affected 36·0% of this population in 2020. Women, individuals living in rural areas, and residents of western China provinces were particularly affected. Among participants without depressive symptoms, engaging in social media activities at baseline was associated with a 24.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10-36%) lower likelihood of developing depressive symptoms over the next two years. Among depressed participants, compared to individuals not using social media, those initiating three or more social media activities during this period had 1.24 (95% CI: 1.05-1.46) times higher chance of becoming non-depressed, and those using social media all the time were 1·36 (95% CI: 1·09-1·72) times more likely to become non-depressed. In conclusion, middle-aged and older Chinese adults have a substantial burden of depressive symptoms, and social media activities may help to prevent and reduce the symptoms.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，中年和老年中国人的抑郁症状负担尚不清楚，而且在这一人群中，社交媒体的使用对抑郁症状的影响尚未得到研究。为了解决这些差距，我们分析了中国健康与退休纵向研究的数据，这是一项针对≥45 岁成年人的全国性双年度调查。在 2018 年和 2020 年的调查中测量了社交媒体的使用情况和抑郁症状。我们测试了在 9121 名没有抑郁症状的参与者中，基线（2018 年）社交媒体活动与两年内出现抑郁症状的风险之间的纵向关联。我们还评估了在 5302 名基线时有抑郁症状的个体中，在此期间社交媒体活动是否可以减轻抑郁症状。2020 年，这一人群中有 36.0%受到抑郁症状的影响。女性、居住在农村地区和中国西部省份的居民受影响尤其严重。在没有抑郁症状的参与者中，基线时参与社交媒体活动与未来两年内出现抑郁症状的可能性降低 24.0%（95%置信区间 [CI]：10-36%）相关。在抑郁的参与者中，与不使用社交媒体的个体相比，在此期间开始使用三种或更多种社交媒体活动的个体有 1.24 倍（95%CI：1.05-1.46）的可能性变得非抑郁，而一直使用社交媒体的个体有 1.36 倍（95%CI：1.09-1.72）的可能性变得非抑郁。总之，中年和老年中国成年人有相当大的抑郁症状负担，而社交媒体活动可能有助于预防和减轻这些症状。
