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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| The relation between social network site usage and loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling older adults | | Author(s) | S Aarts, S T M Peek, E J M Wouters |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 30, no 9, September 2015 |
| Publisher | Wiley Blackwell, September 2015 |
| Pages | pp 942-949 |
| Source | www.orangejournal.org |
| Keywords | Informal care ; Internet ; Usage [services] ; Loneliness ; Isolation [elderly] ; Mental health [elderly] ; Living in the community ; Netherlands. |
| Annotation | Loneliness is expected to become an increasing social problem in the future because of the growing number of older adults. It has been argued that the use of social network sites can aid in decreasing loneliness and improving mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how social network site usage is related to loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling older adults. The study population included 626 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and over residing in the Netherlands collected through the LISS panel (www.lissdata.nl). Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses, adjusted for potentially important confounders, were conducted in order to investigate the relation between social network site usage and loneliness and mental health. More than half of the individuals (56.2%) reported to use social network sites at least several times per week. Social network site usage appeared unrelated to loneliness in general, and to emotional and social loneliness in particular. Social network site usage also appeared unrelated to mental health. Several significant associations between related factors and the outcomes at hand were detected. In this sample, which was representative for the Dutch population, social network site usage was unrelated to loneliness and/or mental health. The results indicate that a simple association between social network site usage and loneliness and mental health as such, cannot automatically be assumed in community-dwelling older adults. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-150918245 A |
| Classmark | P6: 3OB: QLD: DV: F:TP: D: K4: 76H |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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