Does internet use worsen old-age loneliness during pandemics? A gendered analysis of the SHARE data.
Despite internet use potentially reducing loneliness among older adults during the Covid-19 pandemic, quantitative research in this area is limited. Our study addresses this gap by exploring how internet use affects loneliness worsening in old age across Europe from a gendered perspective. We adopt...
| Publicado en: | Ageing & Society Vol. 45; no. 12; pp. 2564 - 2587 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Cambridge University Press
Dec2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=189736699&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 189736699 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0144686X AGS jtl: Ageing & Society issn: 0144686X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2025 vid: 45 iid: 12 pid: 15979 pub: Cambridge University Press artinfo: ui: 189736699 10.1017/S0144686X2500011X ppf: 2564 ppct: 23 formats: tig: atl: Does internet use worsen old-age loneliness during pandemics? A gendered analysis of the SHARE data. aug: au: Sala, Emanuela Terraneo, Marco Cretazzo, Federica Zaccaria, Daniele affil: Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy Department of Business Economics Health and Social Care, Centre of Competence on Ageing, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Manno, Switzerland su: Europe Mental health Sex distribution Internet Quantitative research Social networks COVID-19 pandemic Old age Research funding Scientific observation Descriptive statistics Chi-squared test World health Surveys Odds ratio Loneliness in old age Intraclass correlation Comparative studies sug: subj: Mental health Sex distribution Internet Quantitative research Social networks COVID-19 pandemic Old age Europe Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals Wired Telecommunications Carriers Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) Other Individual and Family Services Research funding Scientific observation Descriptive statistics Chi-squared test World health Surveys Odds ratio Loneliness in old age Intraclass correlation Comparative studies keyword: Covid-19 internet use multi-level modelling old-age loneliness SHARE Covid-19 internet use multi-level modelling old-age loneliness SHARE ab: Despite internet use potentially reducing loneliness among older adults during the Covid-19 pandemic, quantitative research in this area is limited. Our study addresses this gap by exploring how internet use affects loneliness worsening in old age across Europe from a gendered perspective. We adopt a comprehensive approach, considering individual and contextual factors. Using multi-level modelling, we analyse data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (Wave 8 and Corona Survey 1), supplemented by the Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker and the Eurostat Digital Agenda Scoreboard Key Indicators. The empirical analysis has revealed gender-specific differences in the relationship between internet use and the worsening of loneliness among older people during the pandemic, with internet use contributing to increased loneliness for older women, but not for men. In addition, our study indicates that while the contextual factors, namely the severity of the contingency measures and the quality of the internet connection, are not moderators of the relationship between internet use and loneliness worsening, the stringency index specifically exacerbates loneliness in women. These findings contribute to the development of more effective and targeted interventions to combat loneliness worsening and promote wellbeing among older women, particularly in the context of global health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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