Bridge to health: gender-based digital divide in China

This study explores the mediating mechanism and gender heterogeneity in the effects of different digital usage patterns on physical and psychological health. It also discusses the usage gap and outcome gap of the Internet based on gender differences, demonstrating the digital discrepancies in developing nations. Utilizing data from the China General Social Survey, we employed o-logit models and found a favorable correlation between digital usage and both physical and mental health, as well as adverse effects on particular aspects of digital content. Then, the KHB method with Bootstrap steps and structural equation models was applied to decompose the direct and indirect effects. Offline social interaction and subjective well-being were positive mediating factors in the influence of the Internet on health. The mediating mechanisms were significant in the context of online social interactions, online campaigns, leisure entertainment, and information acquirement. In addition, compared to men, women’s digital usage yielded noteworthy health-promoting effects through the intermediary processes. We also employed instrumental variables to address the issue of endogeneity and replaced variables to conduct a robust verification.