Researchers at the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies have conducted a study that resulted in a policy paper titled Internet Use and Depression among the Elderly. It shows clearly that people over 55 who go online regularly have a lower rate of depression than those who don’t.
A recent survey of US households show that, while 79% of the general population reports using the Internet, only 42% of those 65 and older do so. There are conflicting views about the impact of Internet use on mental health. For instance, one view is that Internet use facilitates interpersonal communication, and therefore should improve mental well-being, by reducing loneliness. On the other hand, some people believe that Internet use leads to social exclusion, thereby reducing well-being and depression. Which of these hypotheses is more relevant for older people? This was the background to the present study.
The data for analysis came from the Health and Retirement Study run by the University of Michigan, which obtains 2-yearly information from over 22,000 over the age of 50. After applying some restrictions (e.g. must be age 55 or above, fully retired [i.e. not working], not a nursing home resident), there were 7,000 subjects with data for analysis. Internet use was defined by a yes/no answer to a question, e.g. “do you use the Internet regularly for e-mail or other purposes?” Depression was measured using the eight-item depression scale developed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies (CES-D).
Thirteen different statistical analysis methods were used to evaluate the association between Internet use and depression. The range of a reduced risk of depression for Internet users was 17% to 26%, with 20% as the average, compared with non-users.
A 20% reduced risk is considerable, and should be a basis for further analyses or studies. My top question – just how was the Internet used by those in the “user’ group? A difference between those who relied on e-mail to maintain interpersonal relationships would probably have a very different result from those who spent most of their time “surfing the net”; these two examples represent the opposing views used as examples in the second paragraph above.