ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022
How Does Internet Use Improve Mental Health among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in Rural Areas in China? A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Domain-specific Internet use and social participation in older adults: the role of affective attitudes toward digital device use.European journal of ageing · 2026Article
- Mapping the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Health Interventions for Older Adults: A Rapid Review.Journal of cross-cultural gerontology · 2026Review
- Migration status and internet use: gender differences in mental health among rural older adults in China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Relationship Between Internet Use Purposes and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Older Adults: A Cross-Lagged Panel Network Analysis.Depression and anxiety · 2026Article
- The impact of the three-level digital divide on the mental health of rural residents: A study from China.PloS one · 2026Article
- Exploring the relationship between smartphone use diversity and depressive symptoms among older adults.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Internet use and frailty in Chinese middle-aged and older adults: empirical evidence from CHARLS 2020.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Role of Digital Gaming in Addressing Loneliness Among Older Adults: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Cyberchondria in Older Adults and Its Relationship With Cognitive Fusion, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Mental Well-Being: Mediation Analysis.JMIR aging · 2025Article
- What makes reversal: examining the moderating effect of being a state functionary on occupational status and depression among middle-aged and older people in China.Journal of occupational health · 2025Article
- The association of internet use and cognition among older adults: mediating roles of social networks and depressive symptoms.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
- Can the implementation of the smart city pilot policy improve the social adaptive health and mental health of middle-aged and elderly people? Evidence from China.SSM - population health · 2024Article
- The impact of chronic diseases on the health-related quality of life of middle-aged and older adults: the role of physical activity and degree of digitization.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Age Differences in Electronic Mental Health Literacy: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Effects of mobile Internet use on the health of middle-aged and older adults: evidences from China health and retirement longitudinal study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Effects of activities participation on frailty of older adults in China.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Impact of informal social support on the mental health of older adults.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Multidimensional Internet Use, Social Participation, and Depression Among Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese Individuals: Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Does the Internet Moderate the Neighborhood Effect? Internet Use, Neighborhoods, and Mental Health among Older Adults in Shanghai.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
One of the most significant public health issues in rural China is how to improve the mental health of middle-aged and older individuals. Using 2013, 2015, and 2018 CHARLS panel data, this paper properly examined the effects of Internet use on the mental health of middle-aged and elderly people in rural China based on the difference-in-differences method. The findings are as follows: (1) Internet use effectively improves the mental health status of middle-aged and elderly people in rural China; (2) compared to the middle-aged group, Internet use has a more obvious effect on the mental health of the elderly; (3) further analysis showed that reading news, watching videos, and playing games online could significantly improve the mental health status of middle-aged and elderly people in rural China, while chatting online and other Internet activities cannot significantly improve mental health status; and (4) playing games, watching videos, and reading news have different effects on the mental health of middle-aged and elderly people in rural China. The results indicate that playing games have a better effect on depression levels than watching videos. In contrast, watching news had the lowest effect on depression levels among middle-aged and elderly people in rural China. The results of this study also show the latest evidence that Internet use can help China's rural middle-aged and elderly populations to reduce social isolation, establish new social connections, gain social support, and, ultimately, achieve active ageing. Therefore, promoting multiple forms of interaction is an effective path to prevent loneliness, which has become the new policy direction of the government to create an age-friendly Internet environment using various measures in the future to eliminate the barriers to Internet access affecting the middle-aged and elderly in rural China.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.