ArticleThe Gerontologist2022
Internet Use and Cognitive Functioning in Later Life: Focus on Asymmetric Effects and Contextual Factors.
Article in The Gerontologist, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A meta-analysis of technology use and cognitive aging.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- Longitudinal associations between internet access and cognitive decline in older adults.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Broadband Access, Internet Use, and General Cognition in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Longitudinal Study.JMIR aging · 2026Article
- Digital Engagement and Cognitive Function Among Older Adults in China: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study and Moderated Mediation Model Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Beyond access: how heterogeneity of internet use differentially shapes cognitive function among Chinese older adults.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Telehealth Access and Use Among Older Adults Post-COVID-19: Heterogenous Effects on Cognitive Functioning.Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association · 2025Article
- Technology Activities and Cognitive Trajectories Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: National Health and Aging Trends Study.JMIR aging · 2025Article
- Development of Prediction Models for Healthy Ageing in Community-Dwelling Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study Using Machine Learning.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2025Article
- Associations between internet use, social participation, and cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults.Npj mental health research · 2025Article
- Effects of work cessation on cognitive functioning in rural older adults in China: a cross-sectional study based on CHARLS.BMJ open · 2025Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Oldest-Old Social Capital and Health and the Role of Digital Inequalities: Longitudinal Cohort Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
- Exploring the impact of internet use on cognitive abilities in the older adults: evidence from the CHARLS 2020 database.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Mediating Role of Internet Use in Cognitive-Depressive Pathways: A Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Modeling Approach.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Mapping computational cognitive profiles of aging to dissociable brain and sociodemographic factors.npj aging · 2024Article
- Cognitive functioning and sustained internet use amid the COVID-19 pandemic: longitudinal evidence from older adults in Switzerland.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Internet use and frailty in middle-aged and older adults: findings from developed and developing countries.Globalization and health · 2024Article
- Digital exclusion and cognitive impairment in older people: findings from five longitudinal studies.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- The impact of internet use on health among older adults in China: a nationally representative study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Effect of Internet Use on Cognitive Function of Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults in China: Evidence from China Family Panel Studies.Journal of Alzheimer's disease reports · 2024Article
- Older Adults' and Family Caregivers' Technological Arrangements on Risk of Institutionalization.Work, aging and retirement · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesDespite emerging literature linking Internet usage and cognitive functioning in later life, research seldom takes changes in older adults' Internet use into account. How changes in Internet use influence older adults' cognitive decline over time, particularly in the context of sociodemographic factors that shape Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use, remains an open question. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsUsing 9 waves of panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (2002-2018), we examined within-person asymmetric effects of transitioning into and out of Internet use on cognitive functioning, and whether the associations vary across birth cohorts and by living arrangement.
resultsTransitioning into Internet use (i.e., Internet use onset) was associated with improved cognitive functioning at a given wave and decelerated cognitive decline over time. Transitioning out of the Internet (i.e., Internet use cessation) was associated with worse cognitive functioning at a given wave and accelerated cognitive decline over time. Furthermore, birth cohort and living arrangement moderated these associations. The detrimental effect of transitioning out of Internet use was worse for older adults born in 1941 or before. The cognitive benefits of transitioning into Internet use were greater for those older adults who live alone. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: These findings highlight the interplay between technology, social environment, and cognitive functioning in later life. The salubrious effects of using the Internet, as well as the deleterious effects of ceasing to use such technology, underscore the importance of promoting digital literacy and access to ICT among the older adult population.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.