{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T04:28:36Z","timestamp":1790656116468,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,13]],"date-time":"2024-12-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1734048000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>In the context of the era of both digitalization and aging, Internet use plays an important role in supporting the rural older adults to actively integrate into the digital society and improve their mental health.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>To explore the impact of Internet use on the mental health of rural older adults and the mediating role of their social participation.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Based on the latest data from the China General Social Survey (CGSS) 2021, the study utilized linear regression analysis to explore the impact of Internet use on the mental health of rural older adults and the mediating role of their social participation.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The two important results of the analysis are: (1) internet use is significantly and positively related to the mental health of rural older adults, and (2) internet use can have an indirect effect on the mental health of rural older adults through two pathways: (a) the complete mediating effect of social participation;(b) partial mediating role of friend-gathering type participation.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Internet use, social participation, and friend-gathering type participation all have an effect on the mental health of rural older adults. The research results reveal the impact of Internet use on the mental health of rural older adults and its mechanism, which is helpful to provide useful enlightenment for improving the mental health of rural older adults in the Internet era.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2024.1470965","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,13]],"date-time":"2024-12-13T05:10:37Z","timestamp":1734066637000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["A study of the impact of internet use on the mental health of rural older adults\u2014empirical analysis based on China General Social Survey 2021 data"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Jiangwei","family":"Hu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guocai","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mingda","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"749816","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2021.749816","article-title":"Impact of internet use on multi-dimensional health: an empirical study based on CGSS 2017 data","volume":"9","author":"Han","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"895141","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.895141","article-title":"Internet use, social networks, and loneliness among the older population in China","volume":"13","author":"Tang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front Psychol"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1605664","DOI":"10.3389\/ijph.2023.1605664","article-title":"The heterogeneous impact of internet use on older people\u2019s mental health: an instrumental variable quantile regression analysis","volume":"68","author":"Zhu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Int J Public Health"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.3969\/j.issn.1000-5072.2022.02.004","article-title":"The effect of \u201creverse feeding\u201d on the mental health of the elderly","volume":"44","author":"Zhao","year":"2022","journal-title":"Philos Soc Sci"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"M146","DOI":"10.1093\/gerona\/56.3.M146","article-title":"Frailty in older adults: evidence for a phenotype","volume":"56","author":"Fried","year":"2001","journal-title":"J Gerontol Ser Biol Sci Med Sci"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1789","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(18)32279-7","article-title":"Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2017","volume":"392","author":"James","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.1007\/s40596-016-0533-z","article-title":"From surviving to advising: a novel course pairing mental health and addictions service users as advisors to senior psychiatry residents","volume":"40","author":"Agrawal","year":"2016","journal-title":"Acad Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"886","DOI":"10.1111\/jgs.14053","article-title":"Risk factors for loneliness in elderly adults","volume":"64","author":"Emerson","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Am Geriatr Soc"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"583","DOI":"10.1080\/13607860600641150","article-title":"Living alone and depression in Chinese older adults","volume":"10","author":"Chou","year":"2006","journal-title":"Aging Ment Health"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1789","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2015.05.019","article-title":"How do living arrangements and intergenerational support matter for psychological health of elderly parents? 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