In the wave of digitalization, digital media has brought about changes in the social information dissemination ecology and social environment, giving rise to a new form of digital lifestyle. To explore the impact of digital media use behaviors of older adults on their social adaptation to the digital wave, this study investigated the usage of digital media and social adaptation among 207 older adult individuals through a combination of online and offline random sampling. The collected sample data was analyzed using methods such as Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The study found that older adults who use digital media exhibit a higher level of social adaptation. However, the relationship between digital media usage and social adaptation in the elderly is not a simple linear one, as self-efficacy plays a partial mediating role between the two. The use of digital media helps to improve the self-efficacy of the elderly, facilitating the psychological impact of individuals on social adaptive behaviors and promoting the process of positive aging.
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