ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
This article is part of the Research TopicTracing Loneliness in Aging: Understanding the Interplay and Exploring Innovative InterventionsView all 9 articles
How Internet Use Relates to Mental Health in Older Adults: Findings from the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovenia
Provisionally accepted
Monika Klun1*
Tomas Dosedel2
Peter Seljak1Barbara Grintal1Zdenka Milič Kavčič1Jana Goriup1Voyko Kavcic1- 1Alma Mater Europaea, Maribor, Slovenia
- 2Masarykova univerzita Fakulta socialnich studii, Brno, Czechia
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Objectives: Older adults face challenges in digital engagement, which may be linked to mental health. This study examines associations between Iinternet use and mental health indicators— depression, loneliness, and well-being—among older adults in the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovenia, using data from the SHARE Wave 8 survey. Methods: A sample of 5,201 adults aged 50+ (2,706 Czech, 2,495 Slovenian) was analyzed. Internet use in the past seven days was the dependent variable. Depression (EURO-D), loneliness (Three-Item Scale), and well-being (CASP-12) served as key independent variables. Binary logistic regression was used, controlling for age, gender, education, and partnership status. To address missing data and enhance analytical robustness, a 1-to-many imputation approach was applied. Results: Internet use was positively associated with higher well-being and negatively associated with depression and loneliness in both countries. These associations were stronger in the Republic of Slovenia as compared to the Czech Republic. Age and education were the most significant control variables. Women and individuals living alone in the Republic of Slovenia were less likely to use the Internet. Conclusion: The findings indicate that mental health is significantly associated with Internet use in both countries, though to different degrees, suggesting that national context moderates the relationship between mental health factors and digital engagement. Better mental health is linked to more frequent Internet use among older adults. Nonetheless, the binary measure of Internet use represents a limitation, as it does not capture frequency, intensity, or type of online activity. Interventions promoting digital literacy—particularly among older adults especially for those with poorer mental health—could enhance digital inclusion and well-being in aging populations.
Keywords: SHARE, Internet use, older adults, Mental Health, Depression, Loneliness, Well-being
Received: 14 Oct 2025; Accepted: 07 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Klun, Dosedel, Seljak, Grintal, Kavčič, Goriup and Kavcic. 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: Monika Klun, monika.klun@almamater.si
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