Laut einer neuen Studie in 23 Ländern berichten ältere Erwachsene, die regelmäßig das Internet nutzen, über bessere psychische Gesundheitsergebnisse, darunter weniger depressive Symptome, eine größere Lebenszufriedenheit und eine verbesserte selbstberichtete Gesundheit.
Internet use linked to better mental health for older adults
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I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02048-7
Abstract
The Internet is increasingly important in addressing age-related mental health challenges. We used linear mixed models and meta-analyses to examine the association between Internet use and mental health among 87,559 adults aged ≥50 years from 23 countries. Internet use was associated with fewer depressive symptoms (pooled average marginal effect (AME), −0.09; 95% confidence interval (CI), −0.12 to −0.07), higher life satisfaction (pooled AME, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.10) and better self-reported health (pooled AME, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.12 to 0.17). For two countries (the USA and England) with genetic data available, positive associations between Internet use and mental health were observed across three genetic risk categories. For three countries (the USA, England and China), a higher frequency of Internet use was related to better mental health. Our findings are relevant to public health policies and practices in promoting mental health in later life through the Internet, especially in countries with limited Internet access and mental health services.
From the linked article:
Older adults who use the internet regularly report better mental health outcomes, including fewer depressive symptoms, greater life satisfaction, and improved self-reported health, according to new research published in Nature Human Behaviour. Conducted across 23 countries, the study suggests that internet use can serve as a vital tool for mental well-being in adults aged 50 and older, particularly in middle-income countries where mental health services may be limited.
Across the 23 countries, older adults who used the internet regularly reported fewer depressive symptoms, higher life satisfaction, and better self-rated health. For example, participants who used the internet had, on average, a 0.09-point lower score on depressive symptoms, a 0.07-point higher score on life satisfaction, and a 0.15-point higher score on self-reported health compared to non-users. While these effect sizes are modest, they represent meaningful differences at the population level, given the large number of people who could benefit from improved mental health.
Taken with how bad it is for the youth this implies an age where social media is perfectly neutral for mental health.
Hobestly, I think every generation after the millennials will have a better outlook regarding social life and mental stimulation than boomers and older gens. Simply thanks to the access of video games and online chatrooms
Conversely, it also tracks that *if* they are healthy and most importantly, doing well mentally and cognitively, they’ll be more inclined to get with the times and bother with something “new” and “complicated” like the Internet
I’d be seriously curious to know their online interactions, because many older people also sponge from the Internet any bit of propaganda they encounter (which ends up crushing the mental health of everyone else around them), so they may be happy but at the same time mines ready to vote away the future of the following generations… Too bad we can’t really study something so vast, as it would cost an insane amount of money
I can believe this. My mother told me that she never realised how important mental health is untill recently and always ensure that she and my father aren’t stressed out. I have also seen her improving her diet because “she saw a video which talked about how good a particular food is for the health” and going for jogs and exercise more frequently than before.