Digital literacy and subjective well-being among Chinese older adults: the mediating role of social support

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Objective This study aimed to investigate the current status of digital literacy, subjective well-being, and social support among older adults, analyze their interrelationships, and examine the mediating role of social support between digital literacy and subjective well-being. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from July to December 2025 using a multi-stage stratified random sampling method. A total of 1,260 older adults (aged ≥60 years) from six provinces in China were surveyed using the Digital Literacy Self-Rating Scale for Older Adults, the Chinese Elderly Subjective Well-Being Scale, and the Social Support Behaviors Scale. Common method bias was assessed using Harman’s single-factor test. Mediation analysis was conducted using the PROCESS macro (Model 4) in SPSS 26.0 with bias-corrected bootstrapping (5,000 resamples). Results The total digital literacy score was 52.58 ± 13.19, the subjective well-being score was 51.84 ± 6.26, and the social support score was 44.34 ± 3.38. Digital literacy was positively correlated with subjective well-being ( r = 0.943, p < 0.01) and social support ( r = 0.906, p < 0.01). Social support partially mediated the relationship between digital literacy and subjective well-being, accounting for 27.1% of the total effect [indirect effect = 0.023, 95% CI (0.017, 0.029)]. Hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that digital literacy significantly predicted subjective well-being ( β = 0.401, p < 0.001) and social support ( β = 0.428, p < 0.001), and that social support significantly predicted subjective well-being ( β = 0.252, p < 0.001) after controlling for digital literacy. Conclusion Digital literacy among older adults is at a moderately low level and requires improvement. Digital literacy significantly predicts subjective well-being, and social support plays a partial mediating role. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing digital literacy and strengthening social support networks may effectively promote subjective well-being among older adults in the digital era.