Page 50 - IJPS-11-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Age, gender, internet and older adults’ cognition

ways to integrate technological tools into their services, to older adults and calls for increased virtual engagement that
provide more opportunities for social engagement (Zhang can be accessible to all older adults. Future research should
& Kaufman, 2015). Support groups for example could be focus on testing specific interventions to improve cognitive
offered online and incorporate mind-stimulating activities gain from Internet use among older adults.
such as Charades or Pictionary. These games would
encourage middle-aged and older adults to recall images, Acknowledgments
think, and then depict them accurately to another person. None.

The educational system could also reach a wider
audience by creating programs specific for middle-aged Funding
and older adults with cognitively challenging content that The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was funded
be taken from the comfort of their homes (O’Connor, 2017). by the National Institute on Aging (grant number NIA
On a macro level, policies geared toward the provision of U01AG009740) and was conducted by the University of
Internet access, technological devices, and opportunities Michigan.
to learn how to use them would ensure equitable access
to the benefits of Internet use on cognition for all middle- Conflict of interest
aged and older adults (Sun et al., 2020). All these attempts Kun Wang is the Editorial Board Member of the journal but
to create engagement opportunities for middle-aged and did not in any way involve in the editorial and peer-review
older adults could be instrumental in improving cognitive process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly.
outcomes in older adulthood and improving overall quality Other authors declare no conflicts of interest.
of life.
This study has several limitations that must be noted. Author contributions
First, the cross-sectional research design does not allow Conceptualization: Kun Wang
for causal inference: no conclusion about whether Formal analysis: Kun Wang
technology use increases cognitive functioning or Investigation: Kun Wang
cognitive functioning increases technology use could be Methodology: Kun Wang
achieved. Future longitudinal analysis is needed for further Writing – original draft: Kun Wang, Zainab Suntai
examination of causal associations. Second, Internet use Writing – review & editing: All authors
is measured by a single-item question. Future study may
need to include questions on specific types of Internet Ethics approval and consent to participate
use, duration of usage, and Internet use efficiency. Third,
among the total eligible participants, the 38% non-response Not applicable.
rate may bias the findings in this study. Bivariate analysis Consent for publication
indicates significant differences between older responder
and non-responders on age, gender, race, education, Not applicable.
marital status, poverty status, depression level, cognition,
ADL, and IADL. Availability of data
The data utilized in this study are derived from the Health
5. Conclusions and Retirement Study (HRS), a longitudinal panel study
The role of Internet use on cognition has been well- that surveys a representative sample of approximately
documented in the literature but little attention has been 20,000 people in America, covering topics such as health,
paid to the moderating effects of age, gender, and Internet retirement, and socioeconomic status among adults over
use on cognitive functioning. This study aimed to fill the age of 50. The HRS is sponsored by the National
this gap in the literature by examining the effect of the Institute on Aging (NIA) and conducted by the University
three-way interaction between age, gender, and Internet of Michigan. Researchers interested in accessing HRS data
use on cognition among older adults, using a nationally for academic and research purposes can do so through the
representative sample. Results indicated that Internet HRS website (http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/).
use improved cognitive functioning regardless of age or
gender and that this effect was even more pronounced References
for women, who gained increased cognitive benefit from American Association for Retired Persons. (n.d). Free Online
Internet use as they grew older. This provides validation Games. Washington, DC: AARP. Available from: https://
for the importance of Internet use among middle-aged and games.aarp.org [Last accessed on 2024 Jan 31].

Volume 11 Issue 1 (2025) 44 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.3119