ArticleDigital health
The associations between patterns of Internet use and depressive symptoms among older adults in China: A latent class analysis.
Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Profiles of digital disability among Chinese older adults and its association with cognitive function: a latent profile analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- The association between internet use and cognition in older adults: empirical analysis based on CLASS 2023.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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Abstract
Objective: Depression is increasingly becoming a global concern among older adults. Many existing studies have found an association between Internet use and mental health in later life. However, most of this research has relied on a variable-centered approach, which may overlook the heterogeneity in Internet use behaviors. We adopted a person-centered approach to explore distinct patterns of Internet use and their associations with depressive symptoms among older adults. Methods: Using data from the 2022 China Family Panel Studies, 3975 older adults (aged ≥ 60 years) reported their Internet use and depressive symptoms after excluding samples with missing core values. Latent class analysis (LCA) was employed to analyze the potential classification of Internet use. Results: LCA identified three distinct Internet use profiles: low digital engagement (Class 1, 51.4%), active social engagement (Class 2, 36.1%), and high comprehensive digital engagement (Class 3, 12.5%). Compared to Class 1, both Classes 2 and 3 showed negative associations with depressive symptoms. Heterogeneity analyses revealed that adults under 70 years, males, and rural residents demonstrated stronger associations between Internet use and reduced depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Internet use has a significant negative impact on depressive symptoms. The results provide an empirical reference for the prevention and intervention of mental disorders in older adults.
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