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Wang and Kubanga

1.1. Internet Use among Older African Americans
In the past two decades, internet use among older adults in the U.S. has increased by 55% (Anderson and Perrin, 2017).
Despite the fast-growing number of older adults going online, African American older adults are lagging behind in the
adoption and use of the Internet when compared with Whites (Choi and DiNitto, 2013; Elliot, Mooney, Douthit, et al.,
2014; Yoon, Jang, Vaughan, et al., 2018). Choi and DiNitto (2013) analyzed a nationally representative sample of the U.S.
Medicare beneficiaries aged over 65 from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and found that, compared to
non-Hispanic Whites, African American older adults were 0.41 times less likely to use the Internet. A similar finding was
reported in another large survey study using a sample of 17,704 older adults in the California Health Interview Survey,
indicating that African American older adults were 0.54 times less likely to use the Internet for health information than
their White peers (Yoon, Jang, Vaughan, et al., 2018).
Previous studies have indicated that the low internet adoption and use rates within the African American older adult
population might be explained by the lower level of education, higher prevalence of poverty, and more health and mental
health-related diseases (Carpenter and Buday, 2007; Berde, 2019; Kim, Lee, Christensen, et al., 2017; Mitchell, Chebli,
Ruggiero, et al., 2019). Considering the benefits of the Internet on increasing health, mental health, and quality of life
among older adults, the low adoption and use of internet resources among African American older adults may further
enlarge existing health and mental health gaps. Thus, it is of great importance to increase internet adoption and use among
this population.
Numerous studies have examined ICT use among older adults and investigated racial and ethnic differences. Most of
these studies have included race or ethnicity as a categorical variable and compared African American older adults with
other racial or ethnicity groups (Choi and DiNitto, 2013; Mitchell, Chebli, Ruggiero, et al., 2019; Yoon, Jang, Vaughan,
et al., 2018). However, few studies have explored other aspects of racial or ethnic differences on ICT use, such as
correlates. Studies on correlates of internet use may help researchers to identify target factors and further explore causal
associations. It may also help practitioners identify problematic factors, design interventions to fix these problems or
alleviate their influence, and promote the use of the Internet. African American older adults have different life experiences
from older adults of other racial and ethnic groups in many ways, such as their social support networks, experience of
depressive symptoms, and experience of systemic discrimination (Ayalon and Young, 2003; Peek and O’Neill, 2001;
Sarkisian and Gerstel, 2004), so correlates of internet use among African American older adults may be different from
other races or ethnicities. For example, a White older adult who experiences ageism may feel uncomfortable going outside
and prefer to instead spend more time online. Different from their White counterparts, African American older adults may
have experienced discrimination since their childhood or young adulthood, and they may consequently be more resilient.
Thus, the effect of discrimination on internet use may be different between White and African American older adults.
In addition, even though African Americans account for a large amount of racial or ethnic minorities, compared to the
Whites, African Americans’ population is small. Thus, results may be misleading for African Americans when exploring
correlates without differentiating race or ethnic groups. Interventions based on these correlates to increase older African
American’s internet use may not be able to target and fix their real problems. Therefore, this study will focus on older
African American adults and investigate correlates of internet use among this population.
1.2. Gender Differences among Older Adults

Gender differences in internet use among older adults are inconsistent. Some empirical evidence indicates that, compared
with older women, older men are more likely to access and use the Internet (Kim, Lee, Christensen, et al., 2017; Marston,
Kroll, Fink, et al., 2016). Attempts to explain such differences have included suggestions that older men may be higher
in self-confidence, hold more positive attitudes toward the Internet, or simply be more adept in computer use (Chu, 2010;
Hunsaker and Hargittai, 2018). However, several recent studies have failed to detect differences in internet use between
men and women (Friemel, 2014; König, Seifert, and Doh, 2018) or have found that internet use was higher among older
women as opposed to men (Yu, Ellison, McCammon, et al., 2016). These inconsistent findings related to gender differences
in internet use indicate the necessity of further exploration involving correlates of internet use among older adults. Given
the likelihood that multiple factors play a role in determining internet use prevalence among older adults, investigating
correlates may provide more insight to gender differences in internet use among older African American adults.
In addition, older women experience aging differently from older men (Xie, 2003). For example, menopause and
widowhood are social aging markers specific to the experience of older women (Osorio-Parraguez, 2013). Women who
are in menopause may increase their use of the Internet to look for menopause consultation and other helpful information
online. Considering the widely accepted longer life expectancy, relative to men, among older women and women’s roles

International Journal of Population Studies | 2020, Volume 6, Issue 2 27