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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1504940
This article is part of the Research Topic Health Literacy and Digital Health Literacy among Older Adults: Public Health Interventions View all 13 articles

Internet Use and Self-rated Health among Chinese Older Adults: The Role of Social Engagement and Social Support

Provisionally accepted
Li Pei-Qi Li Pei-Qi Sun Guo-Yuan Sun Guo-Yuan Zhao Xue-Xue Zhao Xue-Xue Hu Zheng-Xin Hu Zheng-Xin *
  • Yunnan University of Finance And Economics, Kunming, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study examines how social engagement and social support affect association between internet use and older adults' self-rated health in Kunming. An analysis of 518 community-dwelling older adults reveals that internet use significantly enhances their self-rated health. Social engagement mediates this relationship, while social support strengthens the beneficial impact of social engagement on self-rated health. Additionally, social support amplifies the mediating role of social engagement, suggesting that greater social support enhances the benefits of social engagement on health outcomes. Our findings emphasize the significance of fostering social engagement and providing robust social support to improve older adults' health.

    Keywords: Internet use, self-rated health, social engagement, social support, older adults

    Received: 01 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Pei-Qi, Guo-Yuan, Xue-Xue and Zheng-Xin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hu Zheng-Xin, Yunnan University of Finance And Economics, Kunming, China

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