Previous research on older adults’ information and communication technology (ICT) use has shown that cognitive function is linked with ICT use; however, the direction of influence has been yet to be determined. The current study examined the temporal sequence of ICT use and cognitive performance. Using three waves (2013, 2015, and 2017) from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a total of 3904 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 and above were selected for the analysis. Two cognitive domains were considered: episodic memory and executive function. Reciprocal 4-year lagged associations between ICT use and each cognitive domain were examined, controlling for covariates (age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, and depression). Greater use of ICT was significantly associated with memory performance, B (SE) = 0.19 (0.01), p < .001, and executive function, B (SE) = 0.26 (0.01), p < .001, in following years. Reciprocally, episodic memory predicted ICT use, B (SE) = 0.02 (0.01), p < .001, 2 years later. However, the cross-lagged effect of executive functioning on ICT use was not significant, B (SE) = 0.00 (0.01), p = .14. These results suggest the direction of the association between ICT use and cognitive performance might vary depending on the cognitive domain.

以前对老年人信息和通信技术（ICT）使用的研究表明，认知功能与 ICT 使用有关；但是，影响的方向尚未确定。目前的研究检查了 ICT 使用和认知表现的时间序列。使用来自国家健康和老龄化趋势研究的三波（2013 年、2015 年和 2017 年），总共选择了 3904 名 65 岁及以上的社区居住老年人进行分析。考虑了两个认知领域：情景记忆和执行功能。检查了 ICT 使用与每个认知领域之间的相互 4 年滞后关联，控制了协变量（年龄、性别、教育、种族/民族和抑郁症）。更多地使用 ICT 与记忆性能显着相关，B (SE ) = 0.19 (0.01), p  < .001，执行功能B ( SE ) = 0.26 (0.01), p  < .001，在接下来的几年中。反过来，情景记忆预测 ICT 的使用，B ( SE ) = 0.02 (0.01)，p  < .001，2 年后。然而，执行功能对 ICT 使用的交叉滞后影响并不显着，B ( SE ) = 0.00 (0.01)，p  = .14。这些结果表明，ICT 使用与认知表现之间的关联方向可能因认知领域而异。