Social Media and Subjective Well-Being in Older Adults: The Role of Social Support, Self-Efficacy, and Depressive Symptoms.

Abstract

Purpose: To explore how social media affects older adults' subjective well-being (SWB) through underlying mechanisms.

Method: Path analysis was performed with 106 Chinese older adults to examine the effects of social media's interactive communication, information acquisition, and leisure and entertainment on SWB via social support, self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms.

Results: The model fit well (χ²/df = 5.28, goodness of fit index = 0.86). Social support mediated the positive relationship between interactive communication and SWB, and self-efficacy mediated the positive relationship between information acquisition and SWB. Leisure and entertainment activities on social media showed no significant association with SWB.

Conclusion: Social media addresses social support deficits from physical limitations and enhances self-efficacy through information retrieval, thus improving SWB. Findings elucidate how social media influences SWB in older adults, offering theoretical guidance for interventions to enhance their well-being. [Journal of Geronto-logical Nursing, xx(xx), xx-xx.].