TY - JOUR
T1 - What accounts for the relationship between internet use and suicidal ideation of Korean older adults? A mediation analysis
AU - Jun, Hey Jung
AU - Kim, Myoung Yong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/9/1
Y1 - 2017/9/1
N2 - Objectives: This study sought to examine the relationship between Internet use and suicidal ideation in Korean older adults and the mediating roles of social relationships and depressive symptoms. Method: A nationally representative sample of older adults aged 50 or older (N = 6,306), from four waves of the Korean Welfare Panel Study, was used in the analyses. All analyses were conducted using generalized estimation equations, and the mediation effects of social relationship satisfaction and depression in the relationship between Internet use and suicidal ideation were calculated using the product-of-coefficients approach. Results: Internet use was linked with lower levels of suicidal ideation directly and indirectly via the protective effects of Internet use on lowering depression, which was partially mediated by the positive influence Internet use has on older adults’ social relationship satisfaction. Discussion: The results support previous theories about the relationship between social relationships, depression, and suicidal behavior and prior results about how the Internet might confer mental and social health benefits to older adults. This suggests that the Internet is an important social and health activity that contributes to lowering suicidal ideation in older adults.
AB - Objectives: This study sought to examine the relationship between Internet use and suicidal ideation in Korean older adults and the mediating roles of social relationships and depressive symptoms. Method: A nationally representative sample of older adults aged 50 or older (N = 6,306), from four waves of the Korean Welfare Panel Study, was used in the analyses. All analyses were conducted using generalized estimation equations, and the mediation effects of social relationship satisfaction and depression in the relationship between Internet use and suicidal ideation were calculated using the product-of-coefficients approach. Results: Internet use was linked with lower levels of suicidal ideation directly and indirectly via the protective effects of Internet use on lowering depression, which was partially mediated by the positive influence Internet use has on older adults’ social relationship satisfaction. Discussion: The results support previous theories about the relationship between social relationships, depression, and suicidal behavior and prior results about how the Internet might confer mental and social health benefits to older adults. This suggests that the Internet is an important social and health activity that contributes to lowering suicidal ideation in older adults.
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U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbw163
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbw163
M3 - Article
C2 - 28025280
AN - SCOPUS:85028293626
VL - 72
SP - 846
EP - 855
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
SN - 1079-5014
IS - 5
ER -