Leonieke C. van Boekel|Sebastiaan Theodorus Michaël Peek|Katrien Luijkx
Diversity in Older Adults’ Use of the Internet: Identifying Subgroups Through Latent Class Analysis
Tilburg University|Tilburg University|Tilburg University
individuals internet important everyday life older adults research older adults use internet merely focused users versus nonusers consequences internet use nonuse older adults heterogeneous group may implicate use internet diverse well older adults use internet different activities usage influence benefits internet themthe aim paper describe diversity heterogeneity activities older adults use internet determine whether diversity related social healthrelated variableswe used data national representative internet panel netherlands panel members aged 65 years older access use internet selected n1418 conducted latent class analysis based internet activities panel members reported spend time second described identified clusters descriptive statistics compared clusters using analysis variance anova chisquare testsfour clusters distinguished cluster 1 labeled practical users 3688 n523 respondents mainly used internet practical financial purposes searching information comparing products banking respondents cluster 2 minimizers 3223 n457 reported lowest frequency internet activities older mean age 73 years spent smallest time internet cluster 3 labeled maximizers 1777 n252 respondents used internet various activities spent time internet relatively younger mean age 70 years respondents cluster 4 social users mainly used internet social leisurerelated activities gaming social network sites identified clusters significantly differed age p001 2007 time spent internet p001 2012 frequency downloading apps p001 2014 medium large effect sizes social healthrelated variables significantly different clusters except social emotional loneliness however effect sizes small minimizers scored significantly lower psychological wellbeing instrumental activities daily living iadl experienced health compared practical users maximizersolder adults diverse group terms activities internet underlines importance look beyond use versus nonuse studying older adults internet use clusters identified study help tailor development deployment ehealth intervention specific segments older population