Types of Internet Use and Mental Health Among Older Adults in China

As internet use becomes embedded in later-life routines in China, older adults engage online in markedly different ways, which may carry unequal implications for mental health. This study investigates how heterogeneous internet use patterns influence depressive symptoms among older adults in China, and whether age moderates these associations.Methods: Data were drawn from the 2023 wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (N = 5,497). Latent class analysis was applied to classify internet use by both content and frequency, and regression models were employed to examine associations between user types and depression, with age included as a moderator and demographic covariates controlled.Results: Four distinct classes were identified: high-frequency social interaction (40.8%), information-oriented (21.0%), social–entertainment–consumption (22.7%), and comprehensive high-frequency use (15.4%). Compared with comprehensive users, the information-oriented and high-frequency social groups reported significantly higher depression scores, while the social–entertainment–consumption group showed moderate disadvantage. Age moderated these relationships: differences in depression across user types were strongest among the younger-old but diminished among the oldest-old. Findings extend social participation and compensation theories in the digital context and suggest that policies should move beyond access provision to foster diversified, meaningful online engagement that safeguards mental health in later life.