JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

There is uncertainty in the impact of Internet usage on mental health in older adults. Moreover, there is very little known specifically about the impact of particular purposes of Internet use.

Objective:

This study investigates the longitudinal relationship between two distinct concepts of mental health with frequency of Internet use among older adults, the moderating role of socioeconomic position (SEP) and the association between specific purposes of Internet use.

Methods:

Longitudinal fixed and random effects (27,507 person years) models were fitted using Waves 6-8 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to examine the relationship between different aspects of Internet use (frequency and purpose) and two mental health outcomes, depression and life satisfaction. The moderating effect of SEP on these associations was tested using interaction terms.

Results:

Greater frequency of Internet use was predictive of improved life satisfaction but not depression. Compared with daily Internet users, the adjusted mean life satisfaction score was half a point lower among those who used the Internet monthly or less (P = 0.024). Education and occupation class had a moderating effect on the association between frequency of Internet use and mental health; the associations were stronger in the highest education group in both depression (P = 0.087) and life satisfaction (P = 0.019) and in the highest occupational group in life satisfaction (P = 0.054) only. Using the Internet for communication was associated with lower depression (P = 0.002) and higher life satisfaction (P < 0.001), whereas those using the Internet for information access, in particular, job searching, had higher depression (P = 0.008) and lower life satisfaction (P < 0.001) compared to those who did not.

Conclusions:

Policies to improve mental health in older adults should encourage Internet use, especially as a tool to aid communication.