Associations between Mobile Internet Use and Self-Rated and Mental Health of the Chinese Population: Evidence from China Family Panel Studies 2020

Ding, Haifeng; Zhang, Chengsu; Xiong, Wei

doi:10.3390/bs12070221

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The findings of this investigation corroborate the premise that persons of the middle age range and above may benefit greatly from using mobile Internet to strengthen their self-evaluated health and reduce their risk of developing chronic diseases. These findings are in line with what Li and Wang and colleagues found in their research [ 30 , 63 ]. Data shows that China’s 5G base stations account for > 60% of the global total, proving the success of China’s recent efforts to support the building of a digital China.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Effects of mobile Internet use on the health of middle-aged and older adults: evidences from China health and retirement longitudinal study

Wang,

Chen

2024

BMC Public Health

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The rapid development of digital technology has radically changed people’s lives. Simultaneously, as the population is rapidly aging, academic research is focusing on the use of Internet technology to improve middle-aged and older people’s health, particularly owing to the popularity of mobile networks, which has further increased the population’s accessibility to the Internet. However, related studies have not yet reached a consensus. Herein, empirical analysis of the influence of mobile Internet use on the subjective health and chronic disease status of individuals in their Middle Ages and above was conducted utilizing ordered logit, propensity score matching (PSM), and ordered probit models with data from the 2020 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The study aimed to provide a theoretical basis and reference for exploring technological advances to empower the development of a healthy Chinese population and to advance the process of healthy aging. The health of middle-aged and older adults mobile Internet users was greatly improved, according to our findings. Further, the use of mobile Internet by these persons resulted in improvements to both their self-assessed health and the state of their chronic diseases. As per the findings of the heterogeneity analysis, the impact of mobile Internet use was shown to be more pronounced on the well-being of middle-aged persons aged 45–60 years compared to those aged ≥ 60 years. Further, the endogeneity test revealed that the PSM model could better eliminate bias in sample selection. The results suggest that the estimates are more robust after eliminating endogeneity, and that failure to disentangle sample selectivity bias would overestimate not only the facilitating effect of mobile Internet use on the self-assessed health impacts of middle-aged and older adults, but also the ameliorating effect of mobile Internet use on the chronic diseases of middle-aged and older adults. The results of the mechanistic analysis suggest that social engagement is an important mediating mechanism between mobile Internet use and the health of middle-aged and older adults. This implies that mobile Internet use increases opportunities for social participation among middle-aged and older adults, thereby improving their health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Effects of mobile Internet use on the health of middle-aged and older adults: evidences from China health and retirement longitudinal study

Wang,

Chen

2024

BMC Public Health

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“…For example, while for girls, daily Internet use was not associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms [ 32 ], for boys, a positive association between the two factors did exist [ 33 ]. Interestingly, a study based on a Chinese sample found a significantly positive association between Internet use and mental health [ 34 ]. Many studies have also identified jealousy as one of the main symptoms of poorer states of mental health resulting from Internet use [ 35 , 36 , 37 ].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many studies have also identified jealousy as one of the main symptoms of poorer states of mental health resulting from Internet use [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. In addition to psychological health, existing studies find a significant negative association between mobile Internet use and self-rated health [ 34 ]. Moreover, online games are one of the most significant applications of the Internet and their impacts are controversial.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, it has been shown in the existing literature that there are disparities in Internet usage and interpersonal communication among individuals of different ages and educational backgrounds [ 34 , 47 , 61 ]. Therefore, we further examine the heterogeneities of the impacts of Internet usage in the different subgroups, with different demographic characteristics.…”

Section: Heterogeneity Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does the Internet Bring People Closer Together or Further Apart? The Impact of Internet Usage on Interpersonal Communications

Ning

Xia

et al. 2022

Behavioral Sciences

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The complementarity interference (CI) model suggests that the Internet may either inhibit or facilitate interpersonal communications. This paper empirically examines the impact of Internet usage on interpersonal interactions, using a micro dataset from China to answer whether the Internet brings people closer together or further apart. The empirical results demonstrate, first, that Internet usage significantly increases both the time and frequency of people’s communications with their family and friends, rather than causing them to feel more disconnected and isolated. Holding other factors constant, for each one-standard-deviation increase in Internet usage, weekly communications with family members increases by an average of 102.150 min, while there is an average increase of 54.838 min in interactions with friends. These findings as to its positive effects are robust when using other regression models and interpersonal contact measures, as well as the instrumental variable method. Second, Internet usage also contributes to decreased loneliness; it exerts this effect primarily by improving people’s interactions with their family members. However, communications with friends do not significantly mediate such impacts. Third, the positive role of Internet usage on communications is more prominent for people with more frequent online socialization and self-presentation, better online skills, younger age, higher educational level, and who are living in urban areas. In addition, the beneficial effects of Internet usage are larger for communications with family members in the case of migrants. Therefore, in the context of the rapid development of information technology, the network infrastructure should be improved to make better use of the Internet to facilitate interpersonal communications and promote people’s wellness.

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“…Hou’s study found positive effects of Internet use on people’s self-rated physical health, objective physical health and mental health [ 46 ]. Li believes that Internet use can help with health improvement and self-assessment of chronic disease conditions [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ]. Secondly, the use of the Internet is not conducive to health [ 51 ].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Internet Use on the Happiness of Chinese Civil Servants: A Mediation Analysis Based on Self-Rated Health

Sui

Ding

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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With the rapid socioeconomic development of China, studies related to Internet use and civil servants’ happiness have become a research hotspot in Chinese academia. This study empirically analysed the impact of Internet use on the happiness of Chinese civil servants using a sample of 3793 civil servants in Hunan Province, China. It showed that Internet use significantly enhanced the subjective well-being of Chinese civil servants. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis revealed significant heterogeneity in the effect of the Internet on civil servants’ happiness, which varied across civil service groups with different education and gender. Moreover, the effect of Internet use on the happiness of the male and better educated civil servant groups was more pronounced than in the female and less educated civil servant groups. Additionally, mediation analysis revealed that Internet use and the happiness of civil servants were not linear, with health having a significant mediating effect. This indicates that Internet use helps civil servants maintain good health, and thereby enhances the happiness of civil servants. In addition, we also use a propensity score matching model (PSM) to address the endogeneity problem due to sample selectivity bias. The results show that the estimates are more robust after eliminating sample selectivity bias. The effect of Internet use on civil servants’ subjective well-being would be underestimated if the sample selectivity bias is not removed.

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Associations between Mobile Internet Use and Self-Rated and Mental Health of the Chinese Population: Evidence from China Family Panel Studies 2020

Cited by 6 publications

References 37 publications

Effects of mobile Internet use on the health of middle-aged and older adults: evidences from China health and retirement longitudinal study

Effects of mobile Internet use on the health of middle-aged and older adults: evidences from China health and retirement longitudinal study

Does the Internet Bring People Closer Together or Further Apart? The Impact of Internet Usage on Interpersonal Communications

The Impact of Internet Use on the Happiness of Chinese Civil Servants: A Mediation Analysis Based on Self-Rated Health

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