Seniors on the Internet

Abstract

This dissertation studied the correlation between the number of hours spent by seniors on the internet in three categories of online activities and the seniors' levels of depression. The subjects were men and women age fifty-five and older living in an active retirement community. The three categories of online activities were communications activities, information-gathering activities, and personal transactions. Number of hours spent online was measured by a self-reporting questionnaire. Level of depression was measured by administration of the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Spearman's rho was used as the correlation coefficient. Level of significance was .05.

No significant correlation was found between the variable level of depression and the three categories of online activities. Further research is required to determine whether there is in fact no significant correlation or whether the failure to find a significant correlation was due to the circumstances of the subjects, the selection of instruments for the study, the administration of the instruments, or other research design factors.