How Social Networking Impacts Community-Dwelling Older Adults
During the pandemic, there have been distressing reports of older adults experiencing loneliness and declining mental health. Though the COVID-19 lockdowns are ending, the number of lonely older adults that we’re currently seeing may just be a taste of what’s to come.
Adults over 60 are a growing group within Canada and since older adults are more likely to experience isolation and loneliness, this could be an even bigger problem in the future.
Depressing, right? But, could the light from our screens shed some light on the problem? More people over 60 are scrolling, liking, and sharing online than ever before. Is social media helping older adults feel more connected or reinforcing loneliness?
Researchers Sil Aarts, Sebastiaan Peek, and Eveline Wouters explored this question in their 2015 study on the relationship between social media use, loneliness, and mental health in older adults.
Is Social Media Helping or Hurting Older Adults’ Mental Health?
Aarts, Peek, and Wouters surveyed 626 adults over 60 in the Netherlands. More than half of the survey participants reported using social media at least several times per week.
They found that the number of times the participants used social media and the amount of time they spent on social media were not related to loneliness and mental health, but there may still be a link. The frequency or amount of time spent on social media platforms may just not be the deciding factor. Instead, the way older adults feel while using social media could be what makes a difference.
How Can We Use Social Media to Help Older Adults Feel More Connected?
The Aarts study proposed that discussion boards and online communities could be a positive place for older adults struggling with loneliness since these platforms provide opportunities to share experiences and find support from others.
In a 2013 study on younger adults, social media reduced loneliness and enhanced well-being when they shared their personal thoughts or feelings online. Encouraging older adults to be active social media users—posting, commenting, sharing, and messaging—may also help their mental health and sense of connection.
Which Older Adults Are More Likely to Feel Lonely?
Aarts, Peek, and Wouters’ study found that women and participants with more than one health condition experienced more mental health problems, which is in line with previous research. But wait, you don’t have to feel defeated! They also found that people who lived alone did not suffer from worse loneliness or mental health. What’s clear is that it is not the absence of relationships that leads to loneliness, but the absence of meaningful relationships. Equipped with this knowledge, we can take action to keep loneliness at bay.
Loneliness, mental health issues, and high social media use have been unfortunate side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like a Facebook notification, all that time spent staring at our devices alerted us to the influence that social media has on our society and ourselves.
Laying the groundwork for future studies to uncover which social media behaviours influence mental health and loneliness, we’ve learned that older adults may benefit from being active users on social media and from using discussion boards where they can connect with others.
From joining an online group focused on a hobby, to reading to grandchildren over a Facebook video call, to sharing life updates with family and friends, it feels good making connections with other people—even if it's just through a screen. If used correctly, social media could be an important tool for ageing adults who are looking to stay connected.
Study Objective & Methods
The Relation Between Social Network Site Usage and Loneliness and Mental health in Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Sil Aarts, PhD; Sebastiaan T.M. Peek, PhD; Eveline J. Wouters, PhD
Published in International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2015. Aarts, Peek, and Wouters randomly sampled 10,000 people from a database that was representative of Dutch speaking adults in the Netherlands. They surveyed 626 adults over 60 from this group. Aarts, Peek, and Wouters supplied computers and/or internet access to participants who did not have them to allow for findings that could be applied to all of the Netherlands' ageing citizens.
Participants rated the frequency of their social media use on a scale from 1 to 7 (1 being never and 7 being several times per day). They also answered questions that assessed their loneliness and mental health. Several other characteristics such as sex, age, educational level, living arrangement, and medical conditions were recorded as well so the researchers could gauge whether these factors were influencing their results.
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This research (and all our social media and well-being articles) have laid the foundation for our E Certification training: a 3-course program for anyone wanting to approach social media and communications in a way that protects well-being and puts people first. Learn more here.
