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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1472445

The effect of Internet use on depressive symptoms in older adults: based on the chain mediating role of physical exercise and self-rated health

Provisionally accepted
Lu Lin Lu Lin 1Pingping He Pingping He 2*
  • 1 University of South China, Hengyang, China
  • 2 Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China

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

    Background Depressive symptoms in older adults have been a major public health problem. Although many studies have suggested a potential relationship between Internet use and depressive symptoms, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship among older adults remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the multiple mediating effects of physical exercise and self-rated health on the relationship between Internet use and depressive symptoms in older adults. Results After controlling for age, sex, marital status, chronic disease, and education level, regression results showed that the use of the Internet had a significant direct effect on depressive symptoms in the elderly (β=-0.684, t=-4.318, P<0.001). Physical exercise and self-rated health significantly affected depressive symptoms in the elderly (β=-0.176, t=-7.939, P<0.001; β=-0.937, t=-18.681, P<0.001). Mediating results showed that the mediating effect of physical exercise between Internet use and depressive symptoms in the elderly was -0.220 (95%CI: -0.2877~-0.1598), and the mediating effect of self-rated health between Internet use and depressive symptoms in the elderly was -0.084 (95%CI: -0.1716~-0.0008), and the chain mediation effect was -0.022 (95%CI: -0.0371~-0.0076). The potential profile analysis of depressive symptoms in the elderly without using the Internet showed that they could be divided into three groups, namely, high loneliness - high depression group (7.4%), medium loneliness - moderate depression group (14.7%), and low loneliness - low depression group (77.9%). Conclusion Internet use can directly affect the depressive symptoms of the elderly, and can also indirectly affect the depressive symptoms of the elderly through physical exercise and self-rated health. The depressive symptoms of the elderly who do not use the Internet are heterogeneous and can be divided into three categories. With the popularization of the Internet, the use of the Internet should be promoted for the elderly, and the frequency of physical exercise should be enhanced to achieve physical and mental health.

    Keywords: Internet use, the elderly, depressive symptoms, physical exercise, self-rated health, Mediation analysis, potential profile analysis

    Received: 29 Jul 2024; Accepted: 29 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lin and He. 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: Pingping He, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, Hunan Province, China

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