Digital Connectivity as a Social Compensation Tool: Why Online Networks Alleviate Loneliness More Effectively in Older Adults (Preprint)

BACKGROUND As digital communication becomes integral to daily life, understanding its role in mitigating loneliness across different life stages is crucial. While online social networks (OSNs) are often associated with improved well-being, the underlying mechanisms and age-specific variations remain under-explored, particularly regarding how digital connectivity translates into actual social interaction. OBJECTIVE This study aims to examine the mediating role of the frequency of social interaction in the relationship between the size of online social networks and loneliness. Furthermore, it investigates whether this mediated process is moderated by age group (working-age vs. older adults). METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a large-scale sample (N = 6,915). Moderated mediation analysis was performed using PROCESS macro (Model 7), and multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test for significant differences in path coefficients between working-age adults (under 65) and older adults (65 and older). RESULTS The results revealed that a larger online social network was associated with lower levels of loneliness, and this relationship was significantly mediated by the frequency of social interaction. Importantly, the moderated mediation index was statistically significant (Index = -0.010, BootLLCI = -0.017, BootULCI = -0.003), indicating that the beneficial effect of OSNs was stronger for older adults. Specifically, the path from OSN size to social interaction frequency was significantly more pronounced in the older adult group (B = 0.387, p < .001) compared to the working-age group (B = 0.252, p < .001; χ² (1) = 11.86, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that digital social resources are more effectively converted into functional social interactions for older adults than for younger counterparts, leading to a greater reduction in loneliness. These findings suggest that digital health interventions for the elderly should focus not only on increasing digital access but also on fostering meaningful social engagement through these platforms to alleviate social isolation. CLINICALTRIAL The data for this study were obtained from the Social Science Japan Data Archive (SSJDA), Center for Social Research and Data Archives, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo (Survey Number: 1746). The original survey, the 'Survey on the Life of the Elderly,' was conducted by the Cabinet Office of Japan. All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the data-providing institution. As this study involved a secondary analysis of anonymized, publicly available data, it was exempt from further institutional review board (IRB) approval, consistent with the guidelines of the authors’ affiliated institution