Association between internet use and depressive symptoms among older adults: mediating role of daytime napping and moderating role of productive engagement

Abstract

Objectives

This study investigated the mediating role of daytime napping in the relationship between internet use and depressive symptoms among older adults. Further the moderating effect of productive engagement was assessed on the linkage between internet use and depressive symptoms.

Methods

We surveyed 956 Chinese community-dwelling older adults. Respondents reported their internet use for different purposes (social, informational, and instrumental use), rated their levels of depressive symptoms and of daytime napping, and reported different types of/overall productive engagement. We conducted mediation and moderation analyses to test the potential pathways of associations among those factors.

Results

Daytime napping mediated the association between social and informational internet use and depressive symptoms. Family caregiving, sporting activities, and overall productive engagement each moderated the relationship between internet use and depressive symptoms.

Conclusion

Internet use can increase the risk of depressive symptoms in older adults by increasing daytime napping. However, the benefits of internet use can be particularly salient for those who have a low level of productive engagement. The findings have implications for policies and practices that are designed to help older adults access the internet to enhance well-being.

Keywords:

• Napping
• social and informational internet use
• instrumental internet use
• mental health
• productive aging

Disclosure statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Beijing Education Sciences Fourteenth Five-year Planning Young Scholar Project (Grant No. BACA21111).