Does Social Technology Use Affect Social Engagement in Older Adults?: Identification of Differences By Racial/Ethnic Groups

Background and Purpose: Social engagement is an important element of aging well. Recent advancements in information and communication technology have increased access and opportunities for social engagement, especially for populations who are traditionally more isolated and who have less opportunities for social connection. While there still remains a large gap between social technology use among older and younger populations, adults aged 65 and older are more likely to use the Internet for email and social networking sites (SNS) than ever before. This study aims to investigate how social technology use affects older adults’ social engagement by racial/ethnic differences.

Methods: We utilized data from the 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study (N=6,220). As a dependent variable, social engagement was classified into two areas: (1) informal social engagement (i.e. visiting family or friends and going out for enjoyment) and formal social engagement (i.e. attending clubs and doing volunteer work). The main independent variables included social technology use (SNS, email, and texting). We performed weighted logistic regression analyses to assess the relationship between social technology use and social engagement by three different racial/ethnic groups including non-Latino whites, African Americans, and Latino Americans.

Results: Non-Latino whites (N=4,504) were more likely to use social technology than African Americans (N=1,344) and Latinos (N=372). Social technology use was positively associated with all types of older adults’ social engagement, but racial differences were identified. All types of social technology use was positively associated with informal and formal social engagement among non-Latino whites. Emailing or texting was positively associated with informal and formal social engagement among African Americans, but not with any social engagement among Latinos. SNS use was positively associated with volunteering among Latinos, but not with any social engagement among African Americans.

Conclusions and Implications: Our findings assist in the identification of specific social technologies that promote active social engagement in later life but differ by racial/ethnic groups. Studies have shown numerous benefits of both informal and formal types of social engagement in the aging process, including lower levels of depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, and physical disability. The identification of racial/ethnic differences in social technology use could help promote the use of these technologies in improving health and mental health outcomes in underserved older populations. Social technology use can be a useful intervention tool to promote older adults’ social engagements and their quality of life.