The moderating effect of intergenerational relationships on the association between Internet engagement and mental well-being

Abstract

Objective

This study examined the moderating effect of intergenerational relationships on the association between Internet engagement and older Chinese adults’ mental well-being and whether this relationship and the moderating role of intergenerational relationships differs by age.

Methods

We collected survey data from 1,162 participants aged 60 and older. Using the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) to measure life satisfaction, the Chinese version of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale to evaluate loneliness, and the Intergenerational Relationship Quality Scale for Aging Chinese Parents (IRQS-AP) to assess intergenerational relationship quality. Two-stage least squares regression with interaction terms was used to examine the moderating effect of intergenerational relationships on the association between Internet engagement and mental well-being in different age groups.

Results

Higher levels of Internet engagement were significantly associated with better life satisfaction and lower loneliness in older adults, particularly for the young-old. Furthermore, the positive association between Internet engagement and mental well-being was stronger for older adults with conflicted or detached intergenerational relationships.

Conclusions

Encouraging and training older adults to use the Internet to shrink the digital divide, developing a sound Internet infrastructure, providing low-cost Internet services, particularly for the young-old with conflicted or detached intergenerational relationships, and the old-old.

Keywords:

• Life satisfaction
• loneliness
• Internet accessibility
• instrumental variable

Acknowledgments

Y. Zhang conceptualized the study questions, framework, and approach, conducted the analysis and wrote the initial draft of the article. Y. Guo contributed to the research design, data collection, and manuscript revision. M. Li contributed to the analytical framework and manuscript revision. All authors contributed to developing the manuscript. We would also like to thank all the investigators, participants, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval statement

Ethical approval was not required, and the survey data collection process followed the Statistics Law of the People’s Republic of China.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant no. 71704181.