Abstract
BACKGROUND: Understanding how to improve the mental health of middle-aged and elderly people is an important issue that needs to be addressed urgently to promote healthy ageing. Moreover, children's digital literacy has become critical for families to adapt to the digital age. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between children's digital literacy and parents' mental health. METHODS: Based on data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) dataset, this study investigates the relationship between children's digital literacy and parents' mental health and its mediating mechanism. Empirical analyses are conducted using the double/debiased machine learning (DML) model and causal mediation analysis (CMA) model. RESULTS: (1) Increased digital literacy among children improves parents' mental health, and the effect is more pronounced for mothers, while there is no significant effect for fathers. These results have been verified by endogeneity and robustness tests, further confirming the reliability of the above findings; (2) these effects are heterogeneous at the regional, household, and individual levels and are more pronounced in the eastern and central regions, in urban areas, in areas with high household socioeconomic status, and among parents with poorer health outcomes; and (3) household income and emotional support are key mediating pathways through which children's digital literacy improves parents' mental health. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the importance of intergenerational digital spillover in addressing the mental health of middle-aged and older adults in China's rapidly digitizing society. It provides novel insights for strengthening intergenerational digital support to promote healthy ageing.