{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T05:18:02Z","timestamp":1783487882100,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783468800000},"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>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>While social media enriches senior tourists\u2019 travel experiences, its psychological adverse impacts remain understudied. Existing literature mainly focuses on youth social media fatigue or older adults\u2019 physical digital divide. Rooted in Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study fills the research gap by exploring the internal psychological mechanisms of Social Media-Induced Travel Anxiety (SMITA), its linkage with resource loss and seniors\u2019 serenity, and the moderating effect of mindfulness.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A quantitative cross-sectional design was adopted. Survey data were collected from 560 Chinese senior tourists and analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Bootstrap resampling.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      SMITA impairs serenity via two parallel serial mediation paths of resource loss: the cognitive-emotional path (SMITA \u2192 Cognitive Fatigue \u2192 Emotional Exhaustion) and the anxiety-willpower path (SMITA \u2192 Generalized Anxiety \u2192 Self-Depletion). SMITA strongly predicts generalized anxiety (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      =\u202f0.584,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.001) and cognitive fatigue (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      =\u202f0.551,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.001); both factors increase psychological discomfort, which further reduces serenity (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      =\u202f\u22120.507,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.001). Mindfulness significantly mitigates the negative correlation between psychological discomfort and serenity (interaction\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      =\u202f\u22120.268,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.001).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Theoretically, this research expands COR theory by revealing dual resource-loss mechanisms in the digital aging context. Practically, it offers actionable strategies for the tourism industry to design low-cognitive-load digital services and deploy mindfulness interventions to maintain the inner peace of older adults tourists.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1850752","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T04:46:17Z","timestamp":1783485977000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Guarding serenity in the digital age: mindfulness as a buffer against social media-induced psychological discomfort in older tourists"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Shanping","family":"Hu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Social Work Department of Huainan Normal University","place":["Huainan, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Boyu","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei University of Economics and Business","place":["Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1159\/000552066","article-title":"Longitudinal lifestyles profiles influence health trajectories in aging: evidence from a population-based sample","author":"Brianzoni","year":"2026","journal-title":"Neuroepidemiology"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"607","DOI":"10.5582\/bst.2025.01309","article-title":"Dementia strategies in an aging society: policies, care, and global insights from the Japanese experience","volume":"19","author":"Deng","year":"2025","journal-title":"Biosci Trends"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101336","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhtm.2025.101336","article-title":"Chinese senior travelers encounter with smart tourism: why are they falling into the travel digital divide?","volume":"65","author":"Yao","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Hosp Tour Manag"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/02666669251334136","article-title":"Information overload in digital tourism marketing: challenges and opportunities for enhancing purchase intentions","author":"Zhong","year":"2026","journal-title":"Inf Dev"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.62381\/e254c09","article-title":"The influence of psychological factors and travel motivation on the booking intention of wellness resorts among senior citizens in Shanghai, China","volume":"2","author":"Li","year":"2025","journal-title":"Econ. 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