Social isolation, social media use, and poor mental health among older adults, California Health Interview Survey 2019–2020

Abstract Background Older adults’ engagement on social media may be a resource to reduce loneliness and improve mental health. Purpose: This study aimed to examine loneliness and social media use and its association with severe psychological distress among older adults and whether social media use moderated the association of loneliness on severe psychological distress among older adults. Methods This study is a secondary analysis of the 2019–2020 California Health Interview Survey. The Kessler 6-item Psychological Distress Scale (K6) assessed symptoms of psychological distress, with a K6 score ≥ 13 associated with severe mental illness. Loneliness was measured using a revised Three Item Loneliness Scale (TILS) score. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between loneliness and severe psychological distress. Results Loneliness, health status, and identification as Asian, remained strong predictors of severe psychological distress among older adults when adjusting for other factors. In bivariate analysis, high-frequent social media users, but did not remain significant when accounting for covariates. Social media use did not moderate the association between loneliness and severe psychological distress. Conclusion This study underscores the significant impact of loneliness on poor mental health among older adults, emphasizing that while frequent social media use correlates with severe psychological distress, it may not alleviate the association of loneliness on poor mental health, thus highlighting the urgent need to address social isolation and promote genuine social connectedness, particularly among Asian older adults.