Examining urban-rural differences in the impact of Internet use on older adults’ depression: evidence from China

Abstract

Both Internet use’s impact on depression and urban-rural disparities related to information and communication technologies (ICTs) are crucial topics in the information systems discipline. So far, limited studies have explored these topics in a comprehensive way. This study aims to explore the impact of Internet use on urban and rural older adults’ depression and provide insights into how ICTs play positive roles in human behaviors. Based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we used the panel-data regression approach to examine the relationships between older adults’ Internet use and depression, and adopted the propensity score matching and the difference-in-difference approach to test the robustness of our findings. We found that the influencing mechanisms behind Internet use’s impact on urban and rural older adults’ depression are different. Internet use not only directly reduces rural older adults’ depression but also indirectly reduces it via the mediation of social activity, while the impact of Internet use on urban older adults’ depression is fully mediated by social activity. We found that Internet use exerts different impacts on urban and rural older adults’ depression, and rural older adults can receive a greater benefit.