Social Connectedness and Cognitive Functioning in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Information and Communication Technology and the Moderating Effects of Age Cohort and Gender (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Background: Older adults are more likely to experience declines in cognitive functioning and social connectedness as they age. Although research has documented an increase in information and communication technology (ICT) use among older adults over the past decades to support daily living needs, relatively little is known about how ICT influences their social engagement and cognitive functioning in community settings. Additionally, few studies have examined which age cohorts are most likely to benefit from ICT use or explored gender differences in how ICT supports social connectedness and cognitive health. OBJECTIVE Objectives: This study investigated the impact of social connectedness on cognitive functioning, examining the mediating role of Information and Communication Technology in community-dwelling older adults and the moderating effects of age cohort and gender. METHODS Methods: Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and multi-group SEM were used to test the hypothesized relationships. Data were collected from 7,385 older adults in the 2023 wave of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS). Participants were categorized into three age cohorts: young-old (65–74 years), middle-old (75–84 years), and old-old (85 years and older). Key measures included ICT use, social connectedness, and cognitive functioning, with analyses performed across age cohorts and gender. RESULTS Results: Social connectedness had a significant indirect effect on cognitive functioning through ICT use (β = 0.126, p < .001). The positive impact of social connectedness on cognitive functioning was strongest among young-old females (β = 0.258) and gradually declined with increasing age across both genders. The influence of social connectedness on ICT use decreased among females (from β = 0.239 to β = 0.148) but increased among males (from β = 0.102 to β = 0.156) as age progressed from the young-old cohort to the old-old cohort. The effect of ICT on cognitive functioning was stronger among females (β = 0.829) than among males (β = 0.743), with the young-old group showing the greatest cognitive benefit from ICT use. CONCLUSIONS Conclusion: The study’s findings suggest that ICT use can effectively mediate the relationship between social connectedness and cognitive functioning in older adults. Enhancing ICT use alongside social connectedness may offer a promising strategy for maintaining healthy cognitive functioning, particularly among the young-old adults and females.