The Impact of Internet Use on the Well-Being of the Elderly in China: A Trajectory-Based Analysis

Corresponding author: huyanxi, 705465357@qq.com

DOI: 10.12201/bmr.202511.00040

•  

  Abstract: 【】Objective To identify the developmental trajectories of internet use and well-being among Chinese older adults, explore the dynamic effects of internet use developmental trajectories on well-being developmental trajectories, and analyze the moderating role of intergenerational support from children, thereby providing empirical evidence for optimizing internet adoption strategies for older adults, enhancing their well-being levels, and actively responding to population aging. Methods Group-based trajectory modeling was employed to identify and map the respective developmental trajectories of internet use and well-being among Chinese older adults. A moderated multinomial logistic regression model was utilized to analyze the impact of internet use developmental trajectories on well-being developmental trajectories and the role of intergenerational support from children as a moderator. Results Chinese older adults exhibited differentiated developmental trajectories in both internet use and well-being. Internet use developmental trajectories had significant positive effects on well-being developmental trajectories. Compared to the low well-being group, older adults in the moderate internet use group had 1.55 times higher odds of belonging to the medium well-being group than those in the offline group (P<0.01), while those in the high-frequency internet use group had 9.56 times higher odds (P<0.01). Similarly, older adults in the moderate internet use group had 1.539 times higher odds of belonging to the high well-being group compared to the offline group (P<0.05), while those in the high-frequency internet use group had 9.03 times higher odds (P<0.01). Intergenerational support from children negatively moderated the impact of internet use developmental trajectories on well-being developmental trajectories (medium well-being group: OR=0.768, P<0.05; high well-being group: OR=0.733, P<0.05). Conclusion There are substantial differences in internet use and development levels within the Chinese older adult population. Internet use can significantly and persistently enhance older adults well-being over the long term, with this effect being more pronounced among older adults with less intergenerational support from children. It is recommended to establish a dual-track system that operates both online and offline services in parallel to ensure the autonomous choice rights of older adults who do not use the internet. Additionally, internet empowerment should be implemented as a targeted social support strategy, with particular attention to older adults with insufficient intergenerational support resources, fully leveraging the internets positive role as a stabilizer for maintaining older adults long-term well-being.

  Key words: Internet use, the Elderly, Well-being, Group based trajectory modelling

  Submit time: 17 November 2025

  Copyright: The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted biomedRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.
• html

• 图表

• guojing, wang yanan, wang pei, yang yao, liu he, guo yumeng. Study on the influence of Internet use on uselessness of the elderly. 2024. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202406.00023

  guojing, xuyishan, chenshilu, zhulin. A study on the impact of Internet use on loneliness in the elderly: The moderating role of age. 2021. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202107.00023

  lihan, shenlining. Study on Usage Intention and Influencing Factors of Internet Hospitalsof the Elderly. 2025. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202505.00033

  Feng Hexia. Internet medical`s application and enlightenment in elderly health management. 2021. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202109.00004

  gonghao, zhouluojing. Text analysis of internet medical policy in China based on Digital Mining. 2022. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202208.00005

  fanbonan, wutailai. Analysis of the development of Chinas Internet medical advertising and countermeasures based on SWOT-PEST. 2023. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202305.00018

  wangshuyao, hilizi, kanghua. Meta-analysis of factors influencing loneliness in older adults. 2024. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202409.00004

  LIU Xia, MA Lili, YANG Feng, ZHU Junmin, MA Mingxia. Research on the Normative Development of Internet Hospitals in China. 2021. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202107.00026

  You mao. Development status and thinking of Internet hospitals in China from the perspective of public value theory. 2022. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202207.00003

  liuchen, wangqiong, wubingyi, liujun. Analysis of changes in healthy life expectancy of the elderly population in China——An empirical study based on census data. 2023. doi: 10.12201/bmr.202303.00008

• ID	Submit time	Number	Download
  1	2025-09-06	10.12201/bmr.202511.00040V1	Download

• Public  Anonymous  To author only Submit Comments