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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Digital Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1520929
This article is part of the Research Topic Patterns of technology-enhanced digital literacy of older adults View all 4 articles

Validation of a scale based on the DigComp framework on Internet navigation and cybersecurity in older adults

Provisionally accepted
Francisco de Paula Rodríguez-Miranda Francisco de Paula Rodríguez-Miranda 1*Rocío Illanes-Segura Rocío Illanes-Segura 2Yolanda Ceada Garrido Yolanda Ceada Garrido 1Juan C. Infante-Moro Juan C. Infante-Moro 3
  • 1 Faculty of Education, Psychology and Sports Sciences, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain
  • 2 Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
  • 3 Faculty of Business and Tourism, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain

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

    The global Covid-19 pandemic revealed the persistence of the digital divide in older adults. The need to use technologies in order to communicate, remain informed and have contact with society, along with the need to perform online transactions, led to increased susceptibility, given the potential for scams and cyberattacks. This was a cause of concern amongst the general population, and especially amongst the elderly. The aim of this study is to validate a useful and reliable scale that measures the digital literacy of the senior population. This literacy refers to how they safely search for and manage information, as well as their competencies with regard to the security of their own devices. This scale was created through the adaptation of competencies 1.1, which consist of "browsing, searching and data filtering", as well as 4.1, which considers "protecting devices", from the DigComp model. The quantitative and qualitative analyses have required three samples: (1) a group of experts (N=20) to adapt the scale to the Active Aging Model, (2) a group of older adults (N=50) to carry out the exploratory factor analysis and (3) another group of older adults (N=174) for the confirmatory factor analysis. The results of the analysis reveal the validity and reliability of the designed scale. To conclude, on one hand, the proposed model reveals a goodness of fit; on the other hand, older adults continue to demonstrate a reluctance to use the technologies for financial dealings. In this study, we present a new and reliable instrument adapted to the digital needs of seniors, which can be used by organizations and administrations to promote support policies and training activities for older adults within the active aging framework.

    Keywords: cybersecurity, cyberattacks, Senior population, scale validation, DigComp

    Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Rodríguez-Miranda, Illanes-Segura, Ceada Garrido and Infante-Moro. 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: Francisco de Paula Rodríguez-Miranda, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Sports Sciences, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.