Internet use and depression among Chinese older adults: The mediating effect of interpersonal relationship.

The number of elderly Internet users has increased significantly in the past few years, and the Internet has greatly changed the way that older adults access information and communicate. Generally, those who regularly use the Internet may expand their range of interpersonal interactions, which has positive effects on their health. Depression is the leading cause of ill health, and is closely related to people's mental health. We sought to investigate whether internet use help reduce depression level among older adults. Using data from the 2020 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), a total of 4,714 respondents were included to explore the effects of Internet use on the elderly's depression levels in China, along with the mediating role of interpersonal relationship in the above relationship. Regression results indicated that Internet use significantly reduced depression levels among the elderly. Further analysis showed that different Internet usage had different effects on depression among the elderly. Wechat chatting, video browsing, and online shopping were positively correlated with lower levels of depression. However, playing online games and online learning did not predict reduced levels of depression. Moreover, interpersonal relationship mediated the relationship between Internet use and depression levels. Internet use was associated with a higher level of interpersonal relationship, which in turn reduced depression levels in older adults. Regarding gender and regional differences, the coefficient of Internet use for urban older adults was significantly negative at 0.001 level, while it was not significant for rural older adults. A mediating effect of interpersonal relationship between Internet use and depression levels was only found for male elderly. To reduce the level of depression and promote mental health in the course of aging, Internet use and the improvement of interpersonal relationships merit special attention.

An empirical analysis based on a panel threshold model of the effect of Internet development on the efficiency of Chinese government public service supply.

With the development of information technology, improving the efficiency of public services with the help of the Internet has become an important work of local governments. However, under different institutional environments, the impact mechanism of Internet development on the supply efficiency of government public services is still unclear. Based on China's interprovincial panel data from 2011 to 2019, this paper constructs a threshold effect model, sets the institutional environment as the threshold variable, and empirically analyzes the impact of Internet development on the supply efficiency of government public services. The results show that the difference in regional institutional environment will lead to the obvious threshold effect of Internet development on the supply efficiency of government public services: When the institutional environment is poor, the role of Internet development on the supply efficiency of government public services is not significant. With the improvement of the institutional environment, the role of Internet development in promoting the supply efficiency of government public services gradually appears, but the marginal intensity of promotion weakens. Compared with existing studies that mostly use linear models, this paper incorporates the institutional environment into the complex relationship between Internet development and government public service supply efficiency, and clarifies the role of the institutional environment in the process of Internet development affecting government public service supply efficiency and the non-linear relationship among the three. This paper reveals the mechanism of Internet development affecting the supply efficiency of government public services under different institutional environments and provides a new perspective for solving the shortage of public services.

Impact of Social Cognition on the Self-Rated Health of the Elderly and Its Mechanisms: Evidence From China's Comprehensive Social Survey.

Whether and how the differentiated social cognition of the elderly affects their self-rated health has not been deeply discussed. Based on social cognition theory and Chinese situation, this study constructs the social cognitive dimension of Chinese elderly including social attitude, class identity and perception of social relations. Using the data from Chinese General Social Survey in 2017, this study screens out 1,728 elderly people aged 60 and over, and discusses the impact mechanism of social cognition on self-rated health of Chinese elderly people aged 60 and over by the construction of structural equation model and mediation effect test method. The results show that social attitude, class identity and perceptions of social relationships have significantly positive effects on the self-rated health levels of elderly individuals. Among them, the path coefficient of social attitude to self-rated health was 0.049, the path coefficient of class identity to self-rated health was 0.171, and the path coefficient of social relationship perception to self-rated health was 0.248; both class identity and perception of social relationship have significant mediating effects on elderly self-rated health through social engagement. This study shows that social cognition rarely studied in existing literature has significant effects on the self-rated health of older adults, providing fruitful insights for enhancing the self-rated health level of elderly individuals.

Understanding Aging Policies in China: A Bibliometric Analysis of Policy Documents, 1978-2019.

Aging poses a big challenge in all aspects of social governance in China. A coherent and focused aging policy response that spans multiple sectors of government has been undertaken to achieve the goal of "Healthy Aging". From an historical perspective, this paper uses a bibliometric analysis method to probe into the evolution of Chinese aging policies from 1978 to 2019, and the roles of core government agencies in policy-making. We obtained 226 Chinese aging policies from the PKULaw Database and the websites of the government departments. Co-word analyses and network analyses were applied in mapping the topics of aging policies and collaboration among the agencies. Gephi software was used to visualize the most frequently used keywords and their network graphs. Findings are as follows. Firstly, the development of the aging policy system in China has undergone two phases, from focusing on basic security to emphasizing the rights and health of the elderly. Secondly, the network structure of aging policy-making departments presents a distinct edge-core layer. More and more government agencies have become involved in the formulation of aging policies. But collaboration among the agencies is insufficient. Thirdly, pilot promotion is the main tool for implementing aging policies.

Transition Metal-Free α-Csp3-H Methylenation of Ketones to Form C═C Bond Using Dimethyl Sulfoxide as Carbon Source.

A direct α-Csp3-H methylenation of arylketones to form C═C bond using dimethyl sulfoxide as one-carbon source is achieved under transition metal-free reaction condition. Various aryl ketone derivatives react readily with DMSO, producing the α,ß-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in yields of 42 to 90%. This method features a transition metal-free reaction condition, wide substrate scope and using DMSO as novel one-carbon source to form C═C bond, thus providing an efficient and expeditious approach to an important class of α,ß-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. Based on the preliminary experiments, a plausible mechanism of this transformation is disclosed.