JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Korea is rapidly transforming into a super-aged society. Research indicates that digital literacy among older adults enhances their life satisfaction. Furthermore, social capital positively affects quality of life, and digital literacy facilitates social capital formation. However, most studies have focused on the direct relationship between digital literacy and life satisfaction; research on the mediating role of social capital remains scarce.

Objective:

To analyze the effect of digital literacy on the life satisfaction of older adults in South Korea and to verify whether social capital acts as a mediating factor in this process.

Methods:

This descriptive cross-sectional study utilized data from the 2023 Report on the Digital Divide—an annual survey conducted by the Korean Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology. The participants included 869 seniors aged 65 years or older. Descriptive statistics, the Pearson correlation analysis, and the three-step multiple regression analysis proposed by Baron and Kenny were performed. The bootstrap method was employed and all analyses were conducted using R version 4.4.1.

Results:

The digital literacy of older adults has a significant positive effect on their life satisfaction (β = 0.103, p = .008). Higher levels of social capital are associated with increased life satisfaction among older adults (β = 0.337, p < .001). Digital literacy influences life satisfaction both directly and indirectly. The direct effect without considering social capital is significant (β = 0.103, p = .006). The indirect effect through social capital is also significant (indirect effect = 0.037, p = .025). Social capital partially mediates the relationship between digital literacy and life satisfaction, indicating that improving digital literacy can enhance social capital, which in turn boosts life satisfaction.

Conclusions:

This study analyzed the association between digital literacy, social capital, and life satisfaction among older adults in Korea. We identified that social capital mediates the association between digital literacy and life satisfaction among older adults. Our results indicate the importance of developing support measures that focus on improving digital literacy and expanding social capital. This could significantly enhance the psychological well-being and quality of life of older adults.