The temperature of internet: Internet use and depression of the elderly in China

Abstract

IntroductionDepression has become one of the most prevalent mental illnesses affecting the elderly in aging countries, i. e., in countries of the world whose population is slowly aging. It has become an important topic for scientists and policymakers to analyze how best to improve the elderly's mental health and save them from depression. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether and to what extent internet use may affect depression in the elderly. The heterogeneous effects of internet use on the elderly's depression across age, gender, and occupation were also investigated.MethodsThe data used in the present study were gathered from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study that was conducted in 2018. The propensity score matching technique and the endogenous switch regression model were employed in this study to address potential endogeneity caused by both observed and unobserved factors.ResultsThe results of the present study show that the elderly who are relatively young, male, well educated, live in an urban area, or have a small family are more likely to use the internet. The elderly who have healthy eyes or good eyesight, those who are not employed in the agricultural sector, or those who are retired, and those who are not eligible to receive any subsistence allowance or drink wine have a higher probability of using the internet. We also find that internet use significantly reduces the elderly's depression status by 3.370 points, which is roughly equivalent to a reduction of 37.19%. Heterogeneity analysis on internet use reveals that the health effect is particularly effective for agricultural workers, female, or the older elderly.ConclusionThe results of the present study highlight the significant welfare effects brought about by the development of internet infrastructure. To improve the mental health of the elderly, the government should encourage them to adopt the internet. In particular, the needs of the elderly who are older, female, or have agricultural work should be paid more attention to motivate them to use the internet more to alleviate depression.

Effects of mobile Internet use on the health of middle-aged and older adults: evidences from China health and retirement longitudinal study

“…According to Guo et al, depressive symptoms in the elderly were shown to be decreased by 3.370 points, or around 37.19%, when Internet use was compared to non-Internet use. The health effects were particularly prominent for agricultural workers, women, and older adults [34]. A double-difference approach was used by Fan and Yang, who analyzed CHARLS panel data from 2013, 2015, and 2018, to determine whether or not Internet use negatively impacted the mental health of those in their middle ages and beyond in rural China and reported that the participants' mental health greatly benefited from their Internet use [35].…”

Has the Development of Internet Improved the Service Satisfaction of the Elderly in China?——An empirical study based on CGSS

“….The number and proportion of elderly people have increased rapidly from 2001 to 2020. [2] From a numerical point of view, the number of elderly people over the age of 65 in China was 11.84 million in 2010, and the data from 2011 to 2019 were 111. 01, 114.18, 117.81, 122.33, 127.96, 135.15, 143.42 ， 152.10 ， 160.35 million people, their percentage of total population from 2010 to 2019 were 8.07%, 8.26%, 8.45%, 8.68%, 8.97%, 9.33%, 9.8%, 10.35% ， 10.92% and 11.47% respectively.…”