@Article{info:doi/10.2196/50880,
author="Mu, Aruhan
and Liu, Zhiyong",
title="Assessing the Impact of Internet Skills on Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Cross-Sectional Instrumental Variables Analysis",
journal="JMIR Aging",
year="2024",
month="Mar",
day="21",
volume="7",
pages="e50880",
keywords="internet skills; depression; second-level digital divide; instrumental variables",
abstract="Background: The potential benefits of IT for the well-being of older adults have been widely anticipated. However, findings regarding the impact of internet use on depressive symptoms are inconsistent. As a result of IT's exponential growth, internet skills have supplanted internet access as the source of the digital divide. Objective: This study evaluates the effect of internet skills on depressive symptoms through an instrumental variables (IV) approach. Methods: Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study's wave 4 (2018) were used. This included 16,949 community residents aged 45 years and older. To overcome the endogeneity issue, we used an IV approach. Results: Our results reveal the emergence of a second-level digital divide, the disparity in internet skills, among Chinese middle-aged and older adults. Liner regression suggests that a 1{\%} increase in internet skills is associated with a 0.037{\%} decrease in depressive symptoms ($\beta$=−.037, SE 0.009), which underestimates the causal effect. As expected, internet skills are an endogenous variable (F test P value <.001). IV regressions indicate that a 1{\%} increase in internet skills reduces 1.135{\%} (SE 0.471) to 1.741{\%} (SE 0.297) of depressive symptoms. These 2 IV are neither weak (F--1=16.7 and 28.5; both >10) nor endogenous (Wu-Hausman test P value of .10; >.05 or >.01). Conclusions: Better mental health is predicted through improved and higher internet skills. Consequently, residents and policy makers in China should focus on bridging the digital divide in internet skills among middle-aged and older adults. ",
issn="2561-7605",
doi="10.2196/50880",
url="https://aging.jmir.org/2024/1/e50880",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/50880"
}