Internet use is associated with better physical and mental health among older adults in China, with social participation and physical activity statistically accounting for part of these associations, and the association through physical activity accounting for the largest proportion of indirect effects.
Internet use was positively associated with both physical health and mental health among Chinese older adults aged 60 and above.
Internet use was positively associated with both social participation and physical activity among older adults.
The direct associations between Internet use and both physical and mental health remained statistically significant after accounting for social participation and physical activity.
Bootstrap analysis confirmed statistically significant total indirect associations of Internet use with both physical and mental health through social participation and physical activity.
Among the indirect pathways tested, physical activity accounted for the largest proportion of the indirect association between Internet use and health.
The interaction between Internet use and urban residence status was statistically significant only in the physical health model, suggesting a stronger association for rural older adults.
The authors interpret the stronger physical health association among rural older adults as reflecting dependence on social and resource contexts.
This research suggests that older adults in China who use the internet tend to report better physical and mental health compared to those who do not. Using data from over 2,200 Chinese adults aged 60 and older, the researchers found that internet use was linked to higher levels of social participation (engaging with others and community activities) and more physical activity, both of which are known to benefit health. These two factors help explain part of why internet users report better health, though internet use still showed a direct benefit even after accounting for them. Among the pathways examined, physical activity appeared to play a larger role than social participation in connecting internet use to better health outcomes. This suggests that older adults who go online may be more likely to be physically active — possibly through finding information about exercise, joining online fitness communities, or simply reflecting a generally more active lifestyle. The researchers also found that the health benefits of internet use were particularly pronounced for rural older adults in terms of physical health, possibly because internet access provides rural residents with resources and connections that are less available to them offline compared to urban dwellers. This research suggests that promoting internet access and digital literacy among older adults, especially in rural areas, could be one approach to supporting healthy aging. The findings highlight that the benefits of internet use are not just direct, but also work through encouraging more active and socially engaged lifestyles. However, because this was a cross-sectional study (measuring everything at one point in time), it cannot definitively establish that internet use causes better health — other unmeasured factors could also be involved.
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Upload Your LabsWang H, Mu L. (2026). Internet use and health among older adults in China: Indirect associations through social participation and physical activity.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357568