Internet use and its effects on loneliness in the elderly population : a review

• Main Authors: Liew, Ming En, Muhammad Ilham Mohamed Halik, Ho, Stella Xin Jie
• Other Authors: Michael David Gumert
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138131
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Internet use is rapidly increasing across all population groups, and the elderly are not an exception. Internet uptake rates for the elderly are increasing year on year, which can have implications on multiple aspects of well-being, one of which is loneliness. Research shown that the elderly population is particularly vulnerable to loneliness. With that in mind, this paper looked into the research question of whether internet use can affect loneliness outcomes in the elderly, with the hypotheses that the internet can do so, and that the two share a negative relationship. We took a closer look at communicative internet use, and addressed various issues and considerations accompanying the elderly’s internet use that are salient in current literature. Overall, we found much support that the internet does indeed hold potential to reduce loneliness outcomes in the elderly if certain conditions are met and controlled for. With our findings, we proposed potential future research directions as well as recommended possible real-world applications for this research.