Exploring the Relationship Between Internet Use and Mental Health Among Older Adults in England: Longitudinal Observational Study.

Sabrina Sze Man Lam,Stephen Jivraj,Shaun Scholes

doi:10.2196/15683

Abstract

BackgroundThere is uncertainty about the impact of internet use on mental health in older adults. Moreover, there is very little known specifically about the impact of particular purposes of internet use.ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the longitudinal relationship between two distinct concepts of mental health with the frequency of internet use among older adults: the moderating role of socioeconomic position (SEP) and the association between specific purposes of internet use.MethodsLongitudinal fixed and random effects (27,507 person-years) models were fitted using waves 6-8 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing to examine the relationship between different aspects of internet use (frequency and purpose) and two mental health outcomes (depression and life satisfaction). The potential moderating effect of SEP on these associations was tested using interaction terms.ResultsInfrequent internet use (monthly or less vs daily) was predictive of deteriorating life satisfaction (β=−0.512; P=.02) but not depression. Education and occupational class had a moderating effect on the association between frequency of internet use and mental health. The associations were stronger in the highest educational group in both depression (P=.09) and life satisfaction (P=.02), and in the highest occupational group in life satisfaction (P=.05) only. Using the internet for communication was associated with lower depression (β=−0.24; P=.002) and better life satisfaction (β=.97; P<.001), whereas those using the internet for information access had worse life satisfaction (β=−0.86; P<.001) compared with those who did not.ConclusionsPolicies to improve mental health in older adults should encourage internet use, especially as a tool to aid communication.

Highlights

As population aging brings major challenges for society and health care services, promoting healthy aging is important to prevent the burden and financial costs related to aging-associated diseases
Risk factors for poor mental health in older adults could be potentially impacted by internet use; maintaining and building social relationships through email or social networking sites may increase feelings of social support and connectedness and relieve feelings of isolation and loneliness [3,4,5,6,7]
Using data from the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS) over a 6-year period, Cotten et al [15] found that prior internet usage reduced the probability of depression by one-third between 2002 and 2008 in a sample of 3000 retired adults aged 50 years and older

Summary

Introduction

As population aging brings major challenges for society and health care services, promoting healthy aging is important to prevent the burden and financial costs related to aging-associated diseases. Evidence is mixed on the impact of internet use on mental health in older adults. Using data from the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS) over a 6-year period, Cotten et al [15] found that prior internet usage reduced the probability of depression by one-third between 2002 and 2008 in a sample of 3000 retired adults aged 50 years and older. Using data over a 10-year period, Lissitsa and Chachashvili-Bolotin [16] found that internet adoption among an Israeli sample of adults aged 65 years and older was associated with increased life satisfaction, with the strength of the estimated association being as strong as that found for being married. There is very little known about the impact of particular purposes of internet use

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion