Using Skype to Beat the Blues: Longitudinal Data from a National Representative Sample
Sponsor
This paper was funded by the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) and the HSR&D Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC). Dr. Teo's work was supported in part by a Career Development Award from the Veterans Health Administration Health Service Research and Development (HSR&D) (CDA 14-428).
Published In
The American Journal Of Geriatric Psychiatry
Document Type
Citation
Publication Date
3-1-2019
Abstract
Objectives
This study aimed to determine whether use of certain types of online communication technology is associated with subsequent depressive symptoms.
Design
Nationally representative, population-based prospective cohort.
Setting
Data were obtained from the 2012 and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).
Participants
1,424 community-residing older adults (mean age, 64.8) in the United States.
Measurements
We examined associations between use of four communication technologies (email, social networks, video chat, and instant messaging) in 2012 and depressive symptoms (eight-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale) at two-year follow-up.
Results
564 participants (39.6%) did not use any communication technologies, 314 (22.1%) used email only, and 255 (17.9%) used video chat (e.g., Skype). Compared to non-users (13.1%, 95% CI: 9.5-16.7%) or those who used only email (14.3%, 95% CI: 10.1-18.5%), users of video chat had approximately half the probability of depressive symptoms (6.9%, 95% CI: 3.5-10.3%, Wald Chi2 test, Chi2(1)=13.82, p < 0.001; 7.6%, 95% CI: 3.6-11.6, Wald Chi2 test, Chi2(1)=13.56, p < 0.001). Use of email, social media, and instant messaging were not associated with a lower risk of depression.
Conclusions
Older adults who use video chat such as Skype, but not other common communication technologies, have a lower risk of developing depression.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1016/j.jagp.2018.10.014
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/28468
Citation Details
Teo, A. R., Markwardt, S., & Hinton, L. (2019). Using Skype to Beat the Blues: Longitudinal Data from a National Representative Sample. The American Journal Of Geriatric Psychiatry: Official Journal Of The American Association For Geriatric Psychiatry, 27(3), 254–262.
Description
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. or its licensors or contributors.