Date of Award

12-2024

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Gerontology

First Advisor

Jeffrey A. Burr

Second Advisor

Jan E. Mutchler

Third Advisor

Jiehua Lu

Abstract

The prevalence of loneliness among older adults along with the adverse health effects associated with loneliness has received increasing public and scholarly attention. Rapid advances in information and communication technology (ICT) may hold great potential for helping older adults to reduce and prevent loneliness. However, despite growing research interest in the association between ICT and loneliness, the empirical evidence remains mixed, and the mechanisms behind the linkages are not yet fully understood. Additionally, less attention has been paid to the loneliness of populations in Asian cultures. This dissertation aims to fill these research gaps by investigating the association between ICT use and loneliness among older people from two distinct cultures: the U.S. and China. This dissertation also investigates some of the potential mechanisms underlying these associations. Three quantitative studies are conducted to provide complementary perspectives. Study one used data from the 2014 and 2018 Health and Retirement Study (N=3,026) to examine the association between ICT use and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults (aged 65+) in the U.S., along with examining the mediating effects of social relations, self-efficacy beliefs (inversely measured by perceived constraints), and purpose-in-life. Autoregressive path models with contemporaneous mediation were employed. The results showed that social media communication had an inverse association with loneliness. Perceived social support and social contact mediated the association, but not perceived constraints, or purpose-in-life. General computer use did not have a significant total effect on loneliness; however, a significant indirect effect was found through perceived constraints, purpose-in-life and social contact. Study two investigated the associations between Internet use and loneliness among older Chinese adults, as well as the mediating effects of family support, friend support, and social participation. Data from the 2018 wave of the China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey (N=10,126) were utilized. The analyses were stratified by geographic residence, including urban (n=3,917) and non-urban (n=6,209) older participants (aged 60+). Linear regression and path analysis within a structural equation modeling framework were employed. Results showed that Internet use was inversely associated with loneliness. Further, family support and social participation mediated the association between Internet use and loneliness for both urban and non-urban residing older Chinese adults. However, friend support mediated this association only for urban older residents. This study shed light on the understanding about the complex relationship between Internet and loneliness among older adults in the Chinese context. Study three investigated the relationships between online engagement, resilience, and loneliness among community-dwelling older people (aged 60+) during the challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Path analysis within the structural equation modeling framework was conducted using national survey data from the 2020 Health and Retirement Study collected during the pandemic (N=3,532). Results showed that online engagement was inversely associated with levels of loneliness, and this association was partially mediated by levels of resilience. In summary, these studies expanded scientific knowledge about the association between ICT and loneliness among older people from two different cultures, focusing especially on the some important mechanisms that underlie these associations. The findings from these studies provided additional empirical support for the argument that ICT use has a general positive impact on reducing loneliness for older people. Further, the findings suggested a more nuanced and multi-faceted approach when designing ICT interventions targeting loneliness in older adults, including programs that improve self-efficacy, purpose-in-life, and resilience, and not just the more common focus of social relationships, to accommodate various individuals' social and psychological needs.

Comments

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