For better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Older adults were advised to avoid social activities during the outbreak of COVID-19. Consequently, they no longer received the social and emotional support they had gained from such activities. Internet use might be a solution to remedy the situation. Therefore, this scoping review sought to map th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Foong, Hui Foh, Lim, Sook Yee, Rokhani, Fakhrul Zaman, Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah, Abdullah, Siti Farra Zillah, Hamid, Tengku Aizan, Ahmad, Siti Anom
Format: Article
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2022
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101555/
_version_ 1848863585369849856
author Foong, Hui Foh
Lim, Sook Yee
Rokhani, Fakhrul Zaman
Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah
Abdullah, Siti Farra Zillah
Hamid, Tengku Aizan
Ahmad, Siti Anom
author_facet Foong, Hui Foh
Lim, Sook Yee
Rokhani, Fakhrul Zaman
Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah
Abdullah, Siti Farra Zillah
Hamid, Tengku Aizan
Ahmad, Siti Anom
author_sort Foong, Hui Foh
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Older adults were advised to avoid social activities during the outbreak of COVID-19. Consequently, they no longer received the social and emotional support they had gained from such activities. Internet use might be a solution to remedy the situation. Therefore, this scoping review sought to map the literature on Internet use and mental health in the older population during the pandemic to examine the extent and nature of the research. A scoping review was conducted using eight databases—PubMed, Scopus, Ebscohost Medline, Ebscohost Academic Search, Ebscohost CINAHL Plus, Ebscohost Cochrane, Ebscohost Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Ebscohost SPORTDiscus, according to PRISMA guidelines. Two pre-tested templates (quantitative and qualitative studies) were developed to extract data and perform descriptive analysis and thematic summary. A total of ten articles met the eligibility criteria. Seven out of ten studies were quantitative, while the remainder were qualitative. Five common themes were identified from all the included studies. Our review revealed that Internet use for communication purposes seems to be associated with better mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Directions for future research and limitations of review are also discussed.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T13:35:15Z
format Article
id upm-101555
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-15T13:35:15Z
publishDate 2022
publisher Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-1015552023-06-16T20:32:00Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101555/ For better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic Foong, Hui Foh Lim, Sook Yee Rokhani, Fakhrul Zaman Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah Abdullah, Siti Farra Zillah Hamid, Tengku Aizan Ahmad, Siti Anom Older adults were advised to avoid social activities during the outbreak of COVID-19. Consequently, they no longer received the social and emotional support they had gained from such activities. Internet use might be a solution to remedy the situation. Therefore, this scoping review sought to map the literature on Internet use and mental health in the older population during the pandemic to examine the extent and nature of the research. A scoping review was conducted using eight databases—PubMed, Scopus, Ebscohost Medline, Ebscohost Academic Search, Ebscohost CINAHL Plus, Ebscohost Cochrane, Ebscohost Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Ebscohost SPORTDiscus, according to PRISMA guidelines. Two pre-tested templates (quantitative and qualitative studies) were developed to extract data and perform descriptive analysis and thematic summary. A total of ten articles met the eligibility criteria. Seven out of ten studies were quantitative, while the remainder were qualitative. Five common themes were identified from all the included studies. Our review revealed that Internet use for communication purposes seems to be associated with better mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Directions for future research and limitations of review are also discussed. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2022-03-19 Article PeerReviewed Foong, Hui Foh and Lim, Sook Yee and Rokhani, Fakhrul Zaman and Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah and Abdullah, Siti Farra Zillah and Hamid, Tengku Aizan and Ahmad, Siti Anom (2022) For better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (6). art. no. 3658. pp. 1-15. ISSN 1661-7827; ESSN: 1660-4601 https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/6/3658 10.3390/ijerph19063658
spellingShingle Foong, Hui Foh
Lim, Sook Yee
Rokhani, Fakhrul Zaman
Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah
Abdullah, Siti Farra Zillah
Hamid, Tengku Aizan
Ahmad, Siti Anom
For better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
title For better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full For better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_fullStr For better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed For better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_short For better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_sort for better or for worse? a scoping review of the relationship between internet use and mental health in older adults during the covid-19 pandemic
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101555/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101555/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/101555/