Relations between Internet use, socio-economic status (SES), social support and subjective health

Abstract

This study aimed to explore relations between Internet use, socio-economic status (SES), social support and subjective health. Participants were from representative samples between 15 and 80 years of age from seven different European countries. Two different survey datasets were used: (i) eHealth trends (eHT; N = 7934) and (ii) the European social survey (ESS2; N = 11248). Internet users who had used the Internet for health purposes were compared with Internet users who had not used it for health purposes. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the relationships between SES, Internet use, social support and subjective health. Use of other media was compared to Internet use in relation to social support and subjective health. Internet use was found to be more closely related to social support and subjective health than use of other media. Internet use was also found to be a plausible mediator between SES and subjective health, especially through interacting with social support.