Day: May 1, 2025

I first learned that the association between online activity and health among older individuals may actually be positive from a television news program. Since I spend a lot of time reviewing research related to the use of digital tools, I decided to follow up. Disclosure – I have no expertise in health issues, but I do read a lot of research focused on the cognitive benefits or detriments of technology. I also have considerable personal experience using technology as an older adult, and I thought others may be interested.

There are multiple concerns that technology may have damaging effects that we users may conveniently ignore.

• Technology appears to discourage physical activity, which may result in weight problems and poor physical conditioning.
• Technology may reduce face-to-face social interaction and the benefits (emotional and physical) associated with interactivity. The hostility so common on social media sites when it comes to certain issues, such as political discussions, may have resulted in significant divisions within society. 
• Certain technology tools (AI) may be used in place of the struggle involved with important cognitive tasks (e.g., writing, mathematical problem solving), limiting the learning of important skills.

It is easy to generalize concerns, and it makes some sense that older people are less tech savvy and would be less concerned about the dangers of spending a lot of time online. However, it is always worth collecting the data, and when Baylor and University of Texas at Austin researchers began to look at the published studies,s they concluded that social media activity was actually helpful in multiple areas.

The study that caught my attention was published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, which reviewed 57 studies involving more than 411,000 adults across the globe, with an average participant age of nearly 69. The researchers Jared Benge and Michael Scullin used a statistical procedure called meta-analysis which is used to identify a general trend across the work of many other researchers. Most uses of this approach also identify variables potentially differentiating the studies and then examine outcomes found in subgroups associated with these differences to possibly identify important factors that might explain how any relationship between variables identified by the larger study might be explained. Sometimes, such an approach can identify a general explanation based on differences in what the smaller studies show. (Summary of study for public distribution).

This pattern of cognitive protection persisted when the researchers controlled for socioeconomic status, education, age, gender, baseline cognitive ability, social support, overall health, and engagement with mental activities like reading that might have explained the findings.

So, the general conclusion was that more use of social media was related to better physical and mental health. Specific causes cannot be identified in what are correlational studies (more on that at a later point) but the authors speculated there were several possible benefits:

• Social connectivity – social engagement is known to facilitate mental and physical health so it seems possible to be able to connect with others even with physical limitations or the inability to drive a car. The access to visual connections (e.g, Apple’s FaceTime) offers a more social interaction.
• Performance enhancement – opportunities such as online banking and shopping encourage independence and keep older individuals more active and involved. Even services that provide assistance with directions keep individuals more active. 

The issue with correlational research

You may be familiar with the phrase correlation is not causation. This means that finding a relationship between one variable (tech use) and another (health variables) does not mean that greater use of your cell phone is responsible for improved health outcomes. You might have immediately made the same observation – what if those with illness or in cognitive decline don’t use their smartphones as much? Researchers can try to statistically control for other variables, but the certainty of the direction of a relationship cannot be guaranteed. The reason more powerful research designs are not applied is easy enough to understand when you think about the topic of this research and many other issues that involve avoiding a negative situation. You cannot ethically create a situation hypothesized to be damaging to see if it really is? 

I decided I should take a look at a couple of the individual studies to see if the design was a simple are “A & B” type of design, and this was clearly the case in some cases.

So, despite the frustration the phrase creates among those seeking a high degree of certainty – “more research is needed”.

Sources:

Benge, J. F., & Scullin, M. K. (2025). A meta-analysis of technology use and cognitive aging. Nature Human Behaviour, 1-15.

Godie, E. A., Elfiky, E. R., & Ibrahim, E. E. (2022). Smartphone Use and Its Relation to Cognitive Impairment and Depressive Symptoms among Elderly People. Assiut Scientific Nursing Journal, 10(33), 188-196

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