RESEARCH ARTICLE


Internet Access at Home and its Relationship to Well-being in Deprived Areas of London



Ilona Boniwell1, Evgeny N. Osin2, *, Adrian Renton3
1 Positran (Goupillères, France) and Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
2 National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
3 Institute for Health and Human Development, University of East London, London, UK


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Creative Commons License
© 2015 Boniwell et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Psychology Department HSE, Myasnitskaya ul. 20, Moscow 101000, Russia; Tel: (+7) (916) 631-5719; Fax: (+7) (499) 178-0392; E-mails: eosin@hse.ru and evgeny.n.osin@gmail.com


Abstract

Purpose:

The existing studies of the association between Internet usage and well-being have produced contradictory results. This study explores the associations between Internet access at home and well-being, as well as other lifestyle variables.

Design/methodology/approach:

The study was done in a probability sample of 800 community-dwelling adults aged 16 and over in six most deprived areas of the Redbridge borough of London. Using face-to-face interviews, information on the demographics, lifestyle, Internet access at home, happiness, trait hope, and subjective health was obtained. Path analysis and structural equation modelling were used to investigate the associations between Internet access and well-being, controlling for demographic variables.

Findings:

Respondents with home Internet access had stronger social ties with friends and relatives, engaged in a wider repertoire of community creative activities and cultural events, and reported having higher social support. Controlling for demographic variables, Internet access at home was a weak but statistically significant predictor of happiness, agency, and absence of mental health problems. The effect of home Internet access on happiness was partially mediated by social ties.

Research limitations/implications:

The correlational nature of the study forbids making causal inferences. The data suggest that people with low socioeconomic status may derive wellbeing benefits from having access to information technology which can serve as an instrument for social integration.

Originality/value:

The data provide a demographic snapshot of the digital divide in one of the most deprived areas of London.

Keywords: Digital divide, happiness, internet access, low socioeconomic status, subjective health, subjective well-being.