ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Strategies to Combat Social IsolationView all articles
The Impact of Internet Use on Older Adults' Attitudes Toward Positive Aging:Evidence from China
Provisionally accepted
- Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
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Objective: The concurrent trends of population aging and digitalization underscore the growing relevance of the Internet to older adults' lifestyles and health. This paper explores the influence of Internet use on positive aging attitudes and its underlying mechanisms, with a specific analysis of the effects of different online functions. The findings are intended to inform efforts towards the digital empowerment of the elderly. Methods: Based on the 2018 survey data from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS),a linear regression model is adopted for empirical analysis.Instrumental variable method and the Propensity-Score-Matching method is used in this study to conduct a robustness test on the impact results of Internet use. The Process3.0 plugin of SPSS was used to verify the mediating effects of life satisfaction and health comparison with peers on the relationship between Internet use and the age identity of older people. Results: It was found that internet use has a significant positive impact on the rejuvenation of age identity in older adults. This relationship is partially mediated by both life satisfaction and health comparisons with peers, with the latter exhibiting a stronger mediating effect. In terms of online functions, those related to life services and social interaction exerted a significantly greater influence than entertainment and information functions. Conclusion: Based on the empowerment theory, it is recommended that policies first focus on improving internet accessibility for older adults. Subsequently, smart elderly care services should be tailored to their needs, while initiatives encouraging intergenerational digital feedback and offline interaction should be strengthened.
Keywords: older people, the internet, Subjective age, empowerment, positive aging
Received: 08 May 2025; Accepted: 01 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Yin, Luo, Deng and Li. 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:
Yalin Li
qin Yin
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