Influence Of Internet Use On Depression Symptoms Of The Middle-Aged And Elderly From The Perspective Of Urban-Rural Gap

[Objective] The rapidly increasing prevalence of depression in our middle-aged and elderly population poses a serious challenge in mental health care.Social participation is currently an effective way to alleviate depressive symptoms of high feasibility and low cost.Internet use,as a new form of social participation,and provide more opportunities for middle-aged and older adults to obtain information and communicate and interact,thus improving depressive symptoms.This study aims to investigate the relationship between Internet use and depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older adults from the perspective of urban-rural disparity and the mediating role of social participation in it.[Methods] Based on successful aging,role theory,and socialization theory,this study constructed a mediated model of the moderated relationship between Internet use and depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older adults,moderated by urban and rural areas and mediated by social participation.Using data from the China Health and Aging Tracking Survey 2018,17,989 cases of survey respondents aged ≥45 years were selected for empirical analysis,the moderating role of urban-rural and the mediating role of social participation were analyzed by path analysis method.[Results] Controlling for demographic variables,health behaviors,and health st atus,(1)Increased Internet use was significantly associated with decreased depressi ve symptoms(β=-0.435,P<0.001).(2)The increase of Internet use is significantly correlated with the increase of both formal and informal social participation(β=0.061,P< 0.001;β=0.063,P<0.001).(3)Increased formal social participation was ass ociated with improved depressive symptoms(β=-0.556,P<0.001).(4)Internet use r educed depressive symptoms by increasing formal social participation(β=-0.034,P<0.001),while the indirect effect mediated by informal social participation was not s ignificant(β=-0.004,P=0.364).(5)For the relationship between Internet use and de pressive symptoms,there was a significant negative moderating effect between urba n and rural areas(β=-0.086,P<0.05).[Conclusions] The direct effect of the Internet on the alleviation of depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older adults was confirmed,while Internet use in middle-aged and older adults could also alleviate depressive symptoms by promoting their formal social participation,while informal social participation had no mediating effect.Therefore,there is a need to further popularize and encourage the use of the Internet among middle-aged and older adults.In addition,rural areas and other resource-poor areas should pay more attention to the construction of elderly-friendly infrastructure,provide more venues and activities for middle-aged and elderly people to participate in society,and further strengthen the construction of urban and rural community organizations and the transformation of the Internet to adapt to aging,so as to effectively improve the mental health of the middle-aged and elderly.