For Better or for Worse? A Scoping Review of the Relationship between Internet Use and Mental Health in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Older adults were advised to avoid social activities during the outbreak of COVID-19. Consequently, they no longer received the social and emotional support they had gained from such activities. Internet use might be a solution to remedy the situation. Therefore, this scoping review sought to map the literature on Internet use and mental health in the older population during the pandemic to examine the extent and nature of the research. A scoping review was conducted using eight databases—PubMed, Scopus, Ebscohost Medline, Ebscohost Academic Search, Ebscohost CINAHL Plus, Ebscohost Cochrane, Ebscohost Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Ebscohost SPORTDiscus, according to PRISMA guidelines. Two pre-tested templates (quantitative and qualitative studies) were developed to extract data and perform descriptive analysis and thematic summary. A total of ten articles met the eligibility criteria. Seven out of ten studies were quantitative, while the remainder were qualitative. Five common themes were identified from all the included studies. Our review revealed that Internet use for communication purposes seems to be associated with better mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Directions for future research and limitations of review are also discussed.

Relationship between Income and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

“…For example, Quarta et al [ 15 ] analyzed the association of physical activity and outdoor leisure time with the mental health of college students during this pandemic. Foong et al [ 16 ] conducted a study on the relationship between Internet use and mental health in the elderly during this pandemic. Laurinaitytė et al [ 17 ] studied the association between health risk behaviors and mental health among Lithuanian university students during this pandemic.…”

The computational turn in online mental health research: A systematic review

“…Following this approach enables us to integrate important venues of online communication such as blogs, interactive websites, forums, social networking sites, content sharing platforms, or message boards. In contrast, prior reviews on online communication and MH are centred around particular applications such as (mental) health-related online groups (Eysenbach et al, 2004; Foong et al, 2022; Van Eenbergen et al, 2017; Wright, 2016), social network sites (Chancellor and De Choudhury, 2020; Sinnenberg et al, 2016) or the interaction of Internet/SM use with MH indicators (Huang, 2017; Verduyn et al, 2017). Our scope comprises all these aspects, advancing the integration of research in the field.…”

Intergenerational and digital solidarity: Associations with depressive symptoms during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting measures have been implemented to slow the spread of the virus, such as social distancing, wearing a face mask, home quarantine, and travel restrictions (Foong et al, 2022). Because older adults encountered greater mortality risks, and more severe illness and complications from viral infection than younger adults (Ryu et al, 2022), they were encouraged to avoid discretionary social activities and interactions, including those with family members (Foong et al, 2022). The resulting dramatic decline in social interactions has led to an elevated risk of social isolation, loneliness, depression, and anxiety among older adults (Polenick et al, 2021).…”