Family guidance regarding internet mitigates older adults' ehealth literacy inequality due to educational attainment through internet use.

Objectives: To explore whether family guidance regarding Internet (FGI) mitigates the effect of educational attainment on older adults' eHealth literacy through different Internet uses and identify which types of FGI improve eHealth literacy among low-educated older adults effectively.

Methods: A total of 490 Chinese adults aged 60 and above completed the eHealth Literacy Scale, an Internet use checklist, and self-reported their educational attainment and FGI frequency.

Results: With adequate FGI, educational attainment was not related to informational Internet use, recreational Internet use, and eHealth literacy. Instrumental, informational, and recreational FGI predicted low-educated older adults' Internet uses and eHealth literacy positively.

Conclusions: FGI mitigates older adults' eHealth literacy inequality due to educational attainment and indirectly narrows this gap through the mediations of informational and recreational Internet use. Informational, instrumental, and recreational FGI play key roles in improving eHealth literacy among low-educated older adults.