Associations of Social Media Use and Internet Addiction With the Multidimensional Health Among Different Age Groups: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background:Excessive internet and social media use is known to harm mental health, yet most research focuses on adolescents and young adults, leaving the risks for middle-aged and older adults understudied.Methods:A total of 2209 valid respondents across different age groups were drawn from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and ordinal logistic regression were performed.Results:Clear age-related patterns emerged. Young people had the highest Internet addiction scores and social media use scores, followed by middle-aged and older people. In the middle aged group, internet addiction was significantly and negatively associated with multidimensional health, whereas social media showed a significant and positive association. Internet addiction among young people was only significantly negatively associated with physical and mental health. No significant health associations were found among older participants.Conclusions:Internet addiction and social media use uniquely impact the multidimensional health of young and middle aged individuals but not those of older adults. Age-specific guidelines for social-media use are necessary to prevent internet addiction, especially among middle-aged populations.