Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Human Factors
Date Submitted: Feb 23, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 26, 2025 - May 21, 2025
Date Accepted: Mar 27, 2026
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Examining Possible Relationship of Online Engagement on Older Adults’ Subjective Memory Capability: Path Analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
The utility of online engagement in enhancing quality of life and mitigating social isolation among older adults is well-documented. However, its effects on cognitive functions, mainly through online social engagement, require further exploration.
Objective:
This study investigates the potential of active online engagement via a Virtual Senior Center (VSC) to enhance subjective memory capability among older adults, thereby potentially improving their psychological well-being and loneliness.
Methods:
Utilizing a cohort of 53 homebound older adults participating in the VSC program, which offers diverse online classes to promote social interaction, using path analysis to investigate the relationship between online engagement, subjective memory capabilities, the quality of social relationships, and overall well-being.
Results:
The findings reveal that increased participation in VSC activities is significantly associated with improved subjective memory capability.
Conclusions:
This enhanced self-assessment of memory capability is linked to a better quality of life and reduced loneliness. Although online engagement has no direct association, these indirect effects suggest the critical role of positive subjective memory capability, fostered through online engagement, in enriching social interactions. It posits the potential of digital platforms to augment traditional methods of socialization, especially for those contending with physical or geographical barriers to interaction.
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.