WELL-BEING IN MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE
jingchuan wu, Xin Yao Lin, Tian Lin, David Almeida · 2023
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Description
As people age, staying connected matters more, and social media promises one route to connection. The authors use the national MIDUS study, with 6,871 middle-aged and older adults, to test whether social media use carries part of age's effect on well-being. They model three outcomes: loneliness, positive affect, and eudaimonic well-being, the sense of purpose and growth. The analysis asks whether platform use sits on the path between age and each outcome.
Mediation shows up for all three outcomes, but the pathway runs in a discouraging direction. Older participants use social media less, and lower use in turn links to worse well-being. So the indirect effect of age through media use is negative, even though use itself can support connection. The authors argue for focused efforts to help middle-aged adults use these tools for real social contact, and they direct the advice at health professionals.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | jingchuan wu, Xin Yao Lin, Tian Lin, David Almeida |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2023 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 2 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |