ArticleBMC geriatrics2025
The dark side of the association between internet use and older adults' subjective wellbeing: the role of subjective social class.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effects of a Community-Based Multi-Component Intervention on Subjective Well-Being in Older Adults: The Chofu-Digital-Choju Project in Japan.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Social media use and subjective well-being among older adults: chain mediation effects of future time perspective and social support.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- How does internet use affect the mental health of older adults: examining the mediating pathways of perception of social fairness and physical activity.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Association of Internet Use Frequency and Purpose with Subjective Well-Being in Japanese Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study from the Chofu-Digital-Choju Project.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- The impact of internet use on the subjective well-being of older adults: The mediating role of mental health.PloS one · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe majority of studies exploring the relationship between internet use and subjective wellbeing among older adults tend to overlook the mediating mechanisms, particularly psychological ones. Additionally, while research has concluded that internet use is significantly associated with higher levels of subjective wellbeing, it remains unclear whether these associations might become insignificant or negative under certain conditions. To address these gaps, this study investigated the association between internet use and subjective wellbeing in older adults, with a focus on the mediating role of hope and the moderating role of subjective social class.
methodA sample of 1,045 older adults was selected from the Chinese General Social Survey. SPSS 24.0 and its PROCESS macros were utilized for data analyses. The bootstrapping method with 5,000 resamples was utilized to examine the mediating role of hope. Interaction terms were formulated to assess the moderating roles of subjective social class.
resultsThe results revealed that older adults who used the internet were more likely to report higher levels of subjective wellbeing than those who did not. Hope served as a key psychological mechanism mediating this relationship. Additionally, subjective social class moderated the association between internet use and subjective wellbeing: the positive association was significant among older adults with higher subjective social class, whereas no significant association was observed among those with lower social class. Interestingly, subjective social class also moderated the relationship between hope and subjective wellbeing, albeit in the opposite direction.
conclusionsThese findings contribute to our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying internet use and older adults' subjective wellbeing. Furthermore, they provide implications for considering the relative dark of internet use on subjective wellbeing for older adults with lower subjective social class.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.