ArticleRisk management and healthcare policy2021
The Relationship Between Internet Use and Mental Health Among Older Adults in China: The Mediating Role of Physical Exercise.
Article in Risk management and healthcare policy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed.
- How Does Internet Use Affect Mental Health of Rural Residents? The Mediating Role of the Neighborhood Social Environment.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Internet media use, physical activity participation, and health-related outcomes among Chinese adults: evidence from CGSS2023.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Digital development and health in China: a serial pathway model through internet use and physical exercise in repeated cross-sectional surveys.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Smart device ownership and depressive symptoms among older adults: evidence from China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Exploring the relationship between smartphone use diversity and depressive symptoms among older adults.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Chain Mediation Role of Self-Efficacy, Health Literacy, and Physical Exercise in the Relationship Between Internet Use and Older Adults' Health: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- The Association Between Internet Use and Co-occurring Health Care Needs: Cross-Sectional Study in China.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Internet Use and Self-Rated Health: The Mediating Role of Physical Exercise.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Multi-level determinants of physical activity and sports participation among adults during COVID-19 pandemic: an interpretable machine learning approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- The association between digital technology use and depression among older people in China: a moderated mediation model.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- The impact of internet use on physical activity among Chinese older adults: the mediating role of social support.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Effects of mobile Internet use on the health of middle-aged and older adults: evidences from China health and retirement longitudinal study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Article
- How does Internet use impact the mental health of social assistance recipients in China? Examining the chain mediating role of social support and family resilience.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Internet use and self-rated health among Chinese older adults: the role of social engagement and social support.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Multidimensional Internet Use, Social Participation, and Depression Among Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese Individuals: Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Does exercise participation promote happiness?: Mediations and heterogeneities.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- The Association between Internet Use and Physical Exercise among Middle-Aged and Older Adults-Evidence from China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Impacts of Physical Exercise and Media Use on the Physical and Mental Health of People with Obesity: Based on the CGSS 2017 Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
objectiveAffected by internet applications, mental health among older adults has become an important public health issue in China. This study aimed to use cross-sectional data to explore how internet use affects mental health among older adults in China, along with the moderating role of physical exercise in the above relationship.
methodsThis study employed data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) conducted in 2017. In addition, OLS regression was adopted to explore the impacts of internet use on the mental health of older adults in China.
resultsResults from the cross-sectional data model showed that internet use had a statistically significant and positive correlation with the mental health of older adults. The regression result of the full sample showed that the regression coefficient of the influence of internet use on the mental health of the elderly was 0.114, which was significant at the 1% level. Furthermore, this study used mediating analysis to explore the possible underlying mechanism by which internet use influenced mental health status through physical exercise. Physical exercise played a mediating role in the relationship between internet use and mental health; the ratio of the indirect effect to total effect mediated was 0.272. It is important to note that the effect size of the indirect effect through physical exercise was quite large.
conclusionOur findings suggested that internet use was significantly associated with better mental health status for older Chinese residents, mediated by higher physical exercise frequency, which was consistent with China's recent efforts to promote health governance with the "Internet Plus Exercise" campaign. Consequently, the government must encourage the development of more internet applications suitable for the elderly to increase their exercise frequency and ultimately improve their mental health. These results also provided insights for clinical solutions.
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