Online social networking and cognitive performance in older adults: A Greek-Canadian study
Published:
Dec 15, 2017
Keywords:
social networking online networking executive control cognitive functions older adults
Abstract
The present study examined the relation between cognitive performance and social networking in older adults from Canada and Greece. The two groups were matched on age, gender, education level, and MMSE scores. Participants reported the amount of both off-line and online networking, as well as the social support received in these contexts. Immediate and delayed recall, speed of processing, and executive functioning were also assessed. Online networking was associated with executive functioning. Interestingly, country context didn’t moderate the relationship, despite differences observed between Greeks and Canadians in executive functioning and online networking. Our findings suggest that online social participation could serve both as a source of social support and as cognitive training, benefiting older adults’ cognitive vitality. The findings are discussed in relation to the characteristics of the specific countries, stressing the need to explore the effects of online social networking and participation on cognitive function in the aging population.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Hatzifilalithis, S., Chrysochoou, E., Pavlidis, G., & Vivas, A. B. (2017). Online social networking and cognitive performance in older adults: A Greek-Canadian study. Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 22(2), 43–53. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.23254
- Issue
- Vol. 22 No. 2 (2017)
- Section
- RESEARCH PAPERS
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The journal PSYCHOLOGY adopts a Platinum open-access policy. Submission, processing or publication costs are waived by the Hellenic Psychological Society. Papers published in the journal PSYCHOLOGY are licensed under a 'Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International' licence. The authors reserve the copyright of their work and grant the journal the right of its first publication. Third-party licensees are allowed to use the published paper immediately after publication as they wish, provided they retain the defined by the license copyright formalities, regarding the reference to its author(s) and its initial publication in the journal PSYCHOLOGY. Moreover, any adjusted work should be shared under the same reuse rights, so with the same CC license.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Agranovich, A. V., & Puente, A. E. (2007). Do Russian and
American normal adults perform similarly on neuropsychological
tests?: Preliminary findings on the relationship
between culture and test performance. Archives
of Clinical Neuropsychology, 22(3), 273-282.
Aiken, L. S., West, S. G., & Reno, R. R. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage.
Arbuthnott, K., & Frank, J. (2000). Trail making test, part
B as a measure of executive control: validation using
a set-switching paradigm. Journal of Clinical and Experimental
Neuropsychology, 22(4), 518-528.
Beekman, A. T., de Beurs, E., van Balkom, A. J., Deeg,
D. J., van Dyck, R., & van Tilburg, W. (2000). Anxiety
and depression in later life: co-occurrence and communality
of risk factors. American journal of psychiatry,
(1), 89-95
Bosma, H., van Boxtel, M. P., Ponds, R. W. H. M., Jelicic,
M., Houx, P., Metsemakers, J., & Jolles, J. (2002).
Engaged lifestyle and cognitive function in middle
and old-aged, non-demented persons: a reciprocal
association?. Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie,
(6), 575-581.
Bowie, C. R., & Harvey, P. D. (2006). Administration and
interpretation of the Trail Making Test. Nature Protocols,
(5), 2277-2281
Cacioppo, J. T., & Hawkley, L. C. (2009). Perceived social
isolation and cognition. Trends in Cognitive sciences,
(10), 447-454
Canadian Public Health Association (2010). Public Health
Community Health Nursing Practice in Canada Roles
and Activities (10). Retrieved from http://www.cpha.
ca/uploads/pubs/3-1bk04214.pdf
Cattan, M., White, M., Bond, J., & Learmouth, A. (2005).
Preventing social isolation and loneliness among older
people: a systematic review of health promotion
interventions. Ageing and society, 25(01), 41-67.
Christelis, D., & Dobrescu, L. I. (2012). The Impact of
Social Activities on Cognitive Ageing: Evidence
from Eleven European Countries. Available at SSRN
Delis, D. C., Freeland, J., Kramer, J. H., & Kaplan, E.
(1988). Integrating clinical assessment with cognitive
neuroscience: construct validation of the California
Verbal Learning Test. Journal of consulting and clinical
psychology, 56(1), 123.
Delis, D. C., Kramer, J. H., Kaplan, E., & Ober, B. A.
(1987). CVLT, California Verbal Learning Test: Adult
Version: Manual. Psychological Corporation.
Eurostat (2014, December). Internet use statistics-individuals.
Available at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.
eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Internet_use_statistics_-_
individuals
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., McHugh, P.R., & Fanjiang,
G. (2001). Mini-Mental State Examination user’s
guide. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources
Fountoulakis, K. N., Tsolaki, M., Chantzi, H., & Kazis, A.
(2000). Mini mental state examination (MMSE): a validation
study in Greece. American Journal of Alzheimer’s
Disease and Other Dementias, 15(6), 342-345.
Glei, D. A., Landau, D. A., Goldman, N., Chuang, Y. L.,
Rodríguez, G., & Weinstein, M. (2005). Participating
in social activities helps preserve cognitive function:
an analysis of a longitudinal, population-based study
of the elderly. International Journal of Epidemiology,
(4), 864-871.
Goodman, J., Syme, A., & Eisma, R. (2003). Older adults’
use of computers: A survey. Retrieved from http://
www-edc.eng.cam.ac.uk/~jag76/research/2003_
bcs_hci/paper.pdf
Government of Canada (2010). Canadian Internet use survey,
Internet use, by location of access, sex and age
group. Available at: http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/
a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=3580124&&pattern=&
stByVal=1&p1=1&p2=37&tabMode=dataTable&
csid=
Hertzog, C., Kramer, A. F., Wilson, R. S., & Lindenberger,
U. (2008). Enrichment effects on adult cognitive development
can the functional capacity of older adults
be preserved and enhanced?. Psychological Science
in the Public Interest, 9(1), 1-65.
Houston, T. K., Cooper, L. A., & Ford, D. E. (2002). Internet
support groups for depression: a 1-year prospective
cohort study. American Journal of Psychiatry,
(12), 2062-2068.
Hultsch, D. F., Hertzog, C., Small, B. J., & Dixon, R. A.
(1999). Use it or lose it: engaged lifestyle as a buffer
of cognitive decline in aging?. Psychology and aging,
(2), 245-263.
Jaeger, P. T., & Xie, B. (2009). Developing online community
accessibility guidelines for persons with disabilities
and older adults. Journal of Disability Policy
Studies, 20(1), 55-63
James, B. D., Wilson, R. S., Barnes, L. L., & Bennett, D. A.
(2011). Late-life social activity and cognitive decline
in old age. Journal of the International Neuropsychological
Society, 17(6), 998-1005.
Krueger, K. R., Wilson, R. S., Kamenetsky, J. M., Barnes,
L. L., Bienias, J. L., & Bennett, D. A. (2009). Social
engagement and cognitive function in old age. Experimental
aging research, 35(1), 45-60.
Lubben, J. E. (1988). Assessing social networks among
elderly populations. Family & Community Health,
(3), 42-52.
Lubben, J., Blozik, E., Gillmann, G., Iliffe, S., von Renteln
Kruse, W., Beck, J. C., & Stuck, A. E. (2006). Performance of an abbreviated version of the Lubben
Social Network Scale among three European community-
dwelling older adult populations. The Gerontologist,
(4), 503-513.
McGinty, S., Podell, K., Franzen, M., Baird, A. D., & Williams,
M. J. (2002). Standard measures of executive
function in predicting instrumental activities of daily
living in older adults. International journal of geriatric
psychiatry, 17(9), 828-834.
Miner, T., & Ferraro, F. R. (1998). The role of speed of
processing, inhibitory mechanisms, and presentation
order in Trail-Making test Performance. Brain and
cognition, 38(2), 246-253.
Reitan, R. M. (1958). Validity of the Trail Making Test as
an indicator of organic brain damage. Perceptual and
motor skills, 8(3), 271-276.
Reitan, R. M., & Wolfson, D. (1993). Theoretical, Methodological
and Validational Bases of the Halstead-Reitan
Neuropsychological Test Battery. Reitan Neuropsychology
Laboratory.
Seeman, T. E., Lusignolo, T. M., Albert, M., & Berkman, L.
(2001). Social relationships, social support, and patterns
of cognitive aging in healthy, high-functioning
older adults: MacArthur studies of successful aging.
Health psychology, 20(4), 243-255.
Small, G. W., Moody, T. D., Siddarth, P., & Bookheimer,
S. Y. (2009). Your brain on Google: patterns of cerebral
activation during internet searching. The American
Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17(2), 116-126.
Social participation – Social Networks (2003). Retrived
May 20 2014, from Employment and Social Development
Canada Web Site: www.esdc.gc.ca
Stanczak, D. E., Stanczak, E. M., & Awadalla, A. W.
(2001). Development and initial validation of an Arabic
version of the Expanded Trail Making Test: Implications
for cross-cultural assessment. Archives of
clinical neuropsychology, 16(2), 141-149.
Statistica (2014, December). Distribution of Internet users
worldwide as of June 2014, by age group. Available
of-internet-users-worldwide/
Sum, S., Mathews, R. M., Pourghasem, M., & Hughes, I.
(2009). Internet use as a predictor of sense of community
in older people. CyberPsychology & Behavior,
(2), 235-239.
UNECE (2011). Statistical Database – Key indicators for
Greece. Available at: http://w3.unece.org/CountriesInFigures2013/
Greece.pdf
Vlahou, C. H., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2002). The Greek Trail
Making Test: Preliminary normative data for clinical
and research use. Psychology: The Journal of
the Hellenic Psychological Society, 9, 336–352 [in
Greek].
Vlahou, C. H., Kosmidis, M. H., Dardagani, A., Tsotsi, S.,
Giannakou, M., Giazkoulidou, A. et al. (2012). Development
of the Greek Verbal Learning Test: reliability,
construct validity, and normative standards. Archives
of Clinical Neuropsychology, 28, 52-64
Wellman, B., Haase, A. Q., Witte, J., & Hampton, K.
(2001). Does the Internet increase, decrease, or
supplement social capital? Social networks, participation,
and community commitment. American behavioral
scientist, 45(3), 436-455.
Xie, B. (2003). Older adults, computers, and the Internet:
Future directions. Gerontechnology, 2(4), 289-305
Yeh, S. C., & Liu, Y. Y. (2003). Influence of social support
on cognitive function in the elderly. BMC health services
research, 3(1), 1-9.
