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.

先前对老年人信息和通信技术（ICT）使用情况的研究表明，认知功能与 ICT 使用有关；但影响方向尚未确定。当前的研究考察了信息通信技术使用和认知表现的时间顺序。使用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名社区居住的65岁及以上老年人进行分析。考虑了两个认知领域：情景记忆和执行功能。在控制协变量（年龄、性别、教育程度、种族/民族和抑郁症）的情况下，检查了 ICT 使用与每个认知领域之间 4 年滞后的相互关联。在接下来的几年中，更多地使用 ICT 与记忆表现 ( B ( SE ) = 0.19 (0.01), p < .001) 和执行功能 ( B ( SE ) = 0.26 (0.01), p < .001) 显着相关。相反，情景记忆预测了 2 年后的 ICT 使用， B ( SE ) = 0.02 (0.01)， p < .001。然而，执行功能对 ICT 使用的交叉滞后效应并不显着， 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会因认知领域的不同而有所不同。