Association of Online Parent-Child Interactions With Depressive Symptoms Among Middle-Aged and Older Empty Nesters in China.

OBJECTIVE

Depression is prevalent among empty nest older adults who do not live with their children. With rapid technological development, online interaction presents a new opportunity to improve older adults' mental health. However, the relationship of online parent-child interaction with depressive symptoms among empty nesters remains under-examined. Guided by the social support theory, this cross-sectional study examined the association between online parent-child interaction and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older Chinese empty nesters.

METHODS

A total of 5198 Chinese empty nesters aged 45+ from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were included. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Participants reported the frequency they contacted their children via online. Negative binomial and Poisson regression were utilized. Interaction terms examined the moderation role of gender, marital status, and education in the relationship.

RESULTS

36.5% of participants reported elevated depressive symptoms and 59.8% of them contacted their children weekly or biweekly. More frequent online parent-child interaction was significantly associated with lower risk of depressive symptoms (incident rate ratio = 0.981, 95% CI = 0.972, 0.990; relative risk = 0.978, 95% CI = 0.963, 0.993). The moderation role of gender and education was not significant (p > 0.05). However, married/partnered participants had stronger association than their partnerless counterparts.

CONCLUSION

Online parent-child interaction was associated with fewer depressive symptoms among Chinese empty nesters in this cross-sectional study. These findings suggest that digital family communication may be a meaningful social context to understand their psychological well‑being.