The Mitigating Effects of Instant Messaging Applications for Older Adults During COVID-19 Pandemic

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-378-8_13How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Instant Messaging Applications; COVID-19 Anxiety; Social Connectedness; Mental Health; Older Adults

Abstract

The mental health of older adults is greatly affected by the pandemic due to the anxiety towards Covid-19 and the reduction in social connectedness. This study focuses on the protective role of Instant Messaging Applications in mitigating the negative effects of Covid-19 anxiety on social connectedness and mental health of older adults in Hong Kong. Questionnaires were distributed through the Elderly Centre to collect data. A total sample of 182 older adults aged between 60 and 93 was obtained. Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Social Connectedness Scale-Revised (SCS-R), Positive Mental Health (PMH-9) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) were adopted in the study. The results showed that COVID-19 anxiety is significantly related to social connection (t = -9.42, p < .001) while the interaction of COVID-19 anxiety and usage of instant messaging applications does not have a significant effect on social connections (t = -1.17, p = .24). Those with higher levels of COVID-19 anxiety have poor social connection. COVID-19 anxiety is not significantly related to mental health (t = -1.07, p = .29) while social connection is significantly related to it (t = 14.52, p < .001). However, the interaction of COVID-19 anxiety and the usage of Instant Messaging Applications have a significant effect on mental health. Those with higher levels of social connection have better mental health. The COVID-19 anxiety is significantly and negatively related to mental health for older adults with high usage of Instant Messaging Applications (t = -2.24, p = .03) while the relationship between the two variables is not significant for older adults with low and medium usage of Instant Messaging Applications (t = 0.89, p = .38; t = -1.07, p = .29). The results suggest that the usage of Instant Messaging Applications would intensify the negative effect of COVID-19 Anxiety on mental health. Receiving more news and information about the pandemic may exaggerate the anxiety of older adults and lead to deterioration in mental health.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Raymond Chi Fai Chui
AU  - Daniel Ting Hei Mak
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/02/19
TI  - The Mitigating Effects of Instant Messaging Applications for Older Adults During COVID-19 Pandemic
BT  - Proceedings of the Positive Technology International Conference 2023 Positive Technology: Possible Synergies between Emerging Technologies and Positive Psychology (PT 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 191
EP  - 205
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-378-8_13
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-378-8_13
ID  - Chui2024
ER  -