Social Network Typologies and Digital Literacy Differences among Korean Older Adults: A Latent Class Analysis

Abstract

Background This study categorized older Korean adults’ social networks and analyzed their characteristics and digital literacy differences based on type. Methods We analyzed data from 9,377 Korean older adult participants of the 2020 National Survey of Older Koreans, and performed latent class analysis (LCA) chi-square and Welch’s F analyses to understand the characteristics of each social network type. The Games–Howell post-hoc test was applied to determine the significance of differences between groups. Results The three social network types derived using LCA were “child-centered,” “child-friend,” and “friend-centered.” The digital literacy levels differed significantly according to social network type. Conclusion The results of this study can be used to propose intervention programs and services associated with older adults’ social networks by examining their social network types and the corresponding differences in digital literacy.

Keywords

• computer literacy
• korean
• aged
• social network