Can the internet reduce the loneliness of 50+ living alone?

Figures & data

Figure 1. Analysis model.

Table 1. Sociodemographic, economic, and health characteristics of Internet users and non-users.

Variables	Users (N = 31,373)	Non Users (N = 32,924)	χ^2/t	Cohen’s d /Phi
Internet (%)	48.1%	51.9%
Welfare regime
Southern	34.3	65.7
Northen	80.8	19.2
Central	59.8	40.2
Eastern	33.3	66.7
Sociodemographic and economic characteristics
Average age (sd)	61.05(8.055)	70.66(10.882)	−115.915***	−.915***
Female (%)	48.6%	59.1%	258.247***	−.063
Male (%)	51.4%	40.9%
Average years of schooling (sd)	12.95(4.074)	8.75(3.900)	115.990***	.935***
Positive financial situation (%)	71.5%	50.9%	4137.615***	.256*
Negative financial situation (%)	28,5%	49.1%
Health
With depressive symptoms (≥ 4)	22.1%	37.3%	1514.387****	−.157*
Without depressive symptoms	77.9%	62.7%
1+ Adl (%)	5.6%	18.3%	2071.125***	−.179*
Without limitations (%)	94.4%	81.7%
Social Network Scale (0-4)	2.15(0.837)	1.87(0.841)	34.666***	.295*
Living alone	20.5%	30.5%	659.887***	−.101*
Not Living alone	79.5%	69.5%
Loneliness R-UCLA (3-9)	3.71(1.193)	4.23(1.61)	−47.024***	−.379*

Source: Source: SHARE wave 6, version 6.1.1 weighted data. N = 64,297 (N unweighted).

Notes: χ²/t = ***p < .001.

Cohen’s d/Phi: small effect size*; medium effect size**; large or very large effect size***.

Table 2. Moderating role of the Internet on the relationship between living alone and loneliness.

	Model 1			Model 2			Model 3
	B	SE	95%CI	B	SE	95%CI	B	SE	95%CI
Constante	3.034***	.050	2.936; 3.133	3.520***	.053	3.416; 3.623	3.613***	.052	3.511; 3.714
Age	.011***	.001	.010; .013	.004***	.001	.002; .005	.003***	.001	.002; .005
Gender (Female)	.142***	.011	.120; .164	.057***	.011	.035; .079	.055***	.011	.033; .077
Years of schooling	.004**	.001	.001; .006	.005**	.001	.002; .008	.005**	.001	.002; .007
Negative financial situation	.341***	.013	.316; .366	.285***	.013	.261; .310	.289***	.013	.265; .314
Euro-D (≤ 4 symptoms of depression)	.974***	.013	.949; 1.000	.961***	.013	.936; .986	.959***	.013	.934; .984
ADL (1+)	.425***	.019	.388; .4612	.401***	.019	.365; .438	.398***	.019	.361; .434
Social Network Scale	−.123***	.007	−.136; −.110	−.097***	.006	−.110; −.085	−.096***	.006	−.109; −.084
Northen (ref. Southern)	−.349***	.020	−.389; −.310	−.386***	.021	−.426; −.346	−.389***	.021	−.429; −.349
Central (ref. Southern)	−.273***	.016	−.304; −.243	−.334***	.016	−.365; −.304	−.338***	.016	−.368; −.307
Eastern (ref. Southern)	−.162***	.015	−.192; −.132	−.196***	.015	−.226; −.167	−.199***	.015	−.229; −.170
Living alone				.581***	.014	.554; .608	.566***	.014	.539; .593
Internet use				−.097***	.013	−.123; −.070	−.099***	.013	−.126; −.073
Internet* Living alone							−.247***	.027	−.299; −.195
	R^2 = .199; p =  < .001			R^2 = .227; p =  < .001			R^2 = .228; p =  < .001

Source: SHARE wave 6, version 6.1.1 nonweighted data.

Notes: N = 51,261 (N nonweighted).

**p < 0.01; *** p < .001.

Figure 2. Association between living alone and loneliness, in function of internet use. Source: SHARE wave 6, version 6.1.1 unweighted data.