Correlates of internet use among African American older adults: Gender and age differences

Abstract

This study aimed to compare internet use among African American older adults by gender and age group and investigate correlates of internet use by gender and age group. A total of 1117 African American older adults aged over 50 from the 2016 Wave of the Health Retirement Study were included in the study. Sequential ordinal logistic regressions were conducted to investigate correlates of internet use among older African Americans by gender and age group. Significant gender and age differences were identified in internet use frequency. Gender differences on correlates were revealed: being old-old and limitations on activities of daily living were only associated with decreased odds of more frequent internet use among women. In addition, higher depression was only associated with reduced odds of more frequent internet use among men. Age differences on correlates indicated that education and cognition were the only two significant factors pertinent to internet use among the old-old. By contrast, for young-old adults, retirement, poverty, education, cognition, and depression were also predictive. Practitioners should consider these gender and age differences when promoting internet use among older African Americans. The results presented in this study might also inform the design of future gender- and age-tailored interventions.