The correlation analysis of WeChat usage and depression among the middle-aged and elderly in China: the mediating role of social participation

(2023) 23:462 Wang et al. BMC Public Health https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15349-9 BMC Public Health Open Access RESEARCH The correlation analysis of WeChat usage and depression among the middle‑aged and elderly in China: the mediating role of social participation Gaoling Wang†, Jing Duan†, Qianqian Kan, Yuqin Zhou, Zhaopeng Cheng and Shaoliang Tang* Abstract Background We aimed to explore the association between WeChat usage and depression in the Chinese middleaged and elderly and the role of social participation. Methods Data were obtained from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) of 2018. The dependent variable was depressive symptoms, measured with the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10). We used the propensity score matching (PSM) to match the WeChat users with the non-WeChat users. Correlations between WeChat usage and depressive symptoms were verified by using logistic regression and linear regression, and the mediating role of social participation was verified by using stepwise regression and KHB method. Results Four thousand five hundred forty-five samples were ultimately matched for analysis in this study. After including all control variables, results of logistic regression showed that WeChat usage was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of depression (aOR:0.701,95% CI: 0.605–0.812). And the results of linear regression showed that WeChat usage was associated with lower levels of depression which was significant (p < 0.001). The results of the stepwise regression and the KHB method showed a mediating role of social participation in WeChat usage and depressive symptoms. Among the four types of social participation, the mediating effect of recreational activities was significant, while the mediating effects of voluntary activities, cultural activities, and other activities were not significant. Meanwhile, the effect of WeChat usage on depression and the mediating effect of social participation were heterogeneous because of differences in age and gender. Conclusion Social participation partly mediated the effect between WeChat usage and depression in middle-aged and older adults. Among the four types of social participation, only recreational activities had a mediating effect. Encouraging more active social participation and other types of social activities should be considered to improve the mental health of the middle-aged and older adults in China through social media usage. Keywords WeChat usage, Social participation, Depressive symptoms, The middle-aged and elderly † Gaoling Wang and Jing Duan contributed equally to this study and share the first authorship. *Correspondence: Shaoliang Tang Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits 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 licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativeco mmons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Wang et al. BMC Public Health (2023) 23:462 Background Depression affects mood, quality of life, and physical health [1], and is an independent risk factor for increased mortality [2, 3]. The prevalence of depression among Chinese adults was 20% from 2011 to 2019 [4]. Depression is one of the most common mental health problems among the middle-aged and elderly and has become an important public health problem in China [5]. It not only poses a significant threat to physical and mental health and ability to live, but also brings a heavy burden to families and society. With the aging and the popularity of healthy aging, the prevention and treatment of depression in the middle-aged and elderly is becoming increasingly important. With the high popularity of the Internet, social media has become a factor that affects mental health. The use of social media could reduce anxiety and loneliness and promote physical health [6], as well as reduce depression levels and increase life satisfaction [7]. Social media can provide many convenient services such as information retrieval and online communication for the middle-aged and elderly with mobility problems, so it is gradually winning their affection. Online socialization could overcome geographical barriers [8], and keep older adults in close contact with family and friends [9], therefore enhancing their social support [10, 11]. WeChat is a popular social media in China and has become an inseparable part of the work and life [12]. According to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, WeChat has become the most commonly used online social tool among the elderly [13]. WeChat usage has some positive effects on Fig. 1 Data inclusion process Page 2 of 17 both physical and mental health of middle-aged and older adults. WeChat usage could reduce the risk of depression in the elderly [14] and had a significant positive impact on subjective health status [15]. A study suggested that WeChat usage may also boost memory in older adults by reducing risk of depression [16]. However, some studies have noted that excessive use of social media, such as WeChat addiction, can have negative effects on the physical, psychological, and social health of users [17–19]. We attempted to clarify the correlation between WeChat usage and depression among Chinese middle-aged and older adults, and to explore whether there were mediating variables in the correlation. Social participation is an important factor, among influences on depression. The definition of social participation is not entirely uniform. In general, social participation refers to activities in which individuals engage in interactions with others in society or the community [20]. In China, whatever way the elderly keep in touch with society is considered to be a form of social participation [21]. Studies showed that social participation was an important part of healthy aging [22], and great for reducing loneliness, relieving depressive symptoms [23, 24], increasing life satisfaction [25], and improving mental health [26]. The higher the frequency and levels of social pa (...truncated)