Baek Eun-Mi, Choi Byunghee, Kang Sang-Hun
Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Catholic University, Seocho-gu, Korea.
Policy Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
Digit Health. 2025 Aug 28;11:20552076251358756. doi: 10.1177/20552076251358756. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.
As digitalization accelerates, digital competency has become crucial for elderly well-being. However, little is known about the psychological mechanisms that link digital skills to life satisfaction. This study investigates whether satisfaction with digital transformation mediates this relationship and whether Digital Devices Self-Efficacy moderates it.
We analyzed data from 2300 older adults (aged 55+) drawn from South Korea's 2022 Digital Information Gap Survey. Digital competency, satisfaction with digital transformation, digital devices self-efficacy, and life satisfaction were measured using validated scales. PROCESS Macro Model 7 was used to test moderated mediation effects, controlling for age, gender, education, occupation, disability, and living arrangement.
Digital information competency significantly predicted higher life satisfaction, both directly (β = .095, p < .01) and indirectly via satisfaction with digital transformation (β = .055, 95% CI [0.040, 0.070]). Moreover, the strength of the relationship between digital competency and satisfaction with transformation was moderated by digital devices self-efficacy (interaction β = -.108, p < .01). Notably, the positive effect of digital competency was strongest among individuals with lower self-efficacy.
Improving digital skills alone may not suffice to enhance well-being in older adults. Programs should also boost self-efficacy and emphasize personal relevance to increase satisfaction with digital transformation. These findings inform future interventions aimed at reducing digital inequality and supporting more inclusive digital aging policies.
随着数字化加速发展，数字能力已成为老年人幸福生活的关键因素。然而，关于将数字技能与生活满意度联系起来的心理机制，我们知之甚少。本研究调查了对数字转型的满意度是否介导了这种关系，以及数字设备自我效能感是否对其起调节作用。
我们分析了来自韩国2022年数字信息差距调查的2300名55岁及以上老年人的数据。使用经过验证的量表测量数字能力、对数字转型的满意度、数字设备自我效能感和生活满意度。采用PROCESS宏模型7来检验调节中介效应，并控制年龄、性别、教育程度、职业、残疾状况和居住安排等因素。
数字信息能力显著预测了更高的生活满意度，这一预测既有直接作用（β = 0.095，p < 0.01），也有通过对数字转型的满意度产生的间接作用（β = 0.055，95%置信区间[0.040, 0.070]）。此外，数字设备自我效能感调节了数字能力与转型满意度之间关系的强度（交互作用β = -0.108，p < 0.01）。值得注意的是，数字能力的积极影响在自我效能感较低的个体中最为明显。
仅提高数字技能可能不足以提升老年人的幸福感。相关项目还应增强自我效能感，并强调个人相关性，以提高对数字转型的满意度。这些发现为未来旨在减少数字不平等和支持更具包容性的数字老龄化政策的干预措施提供了参考。
