Acute Bidirectional Relations Between Affect, Physical Feeling States, and Activity-Related Behaviors Among Older Adults: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Abstract

Background

The majority of older adults are physically inactive; therefore, strategies are needed to effectively promote sustained engagement in physical activity.

Purpose

This study was designed to investigate acute bidirectional relationships between affective and physical feeling states and activity-related behaviors among older adults in the context of everyday life using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA).

Methods

Older adults (n = 103, M_age = 72, Range: 60–98) participated in a 10-day study where they completed up to 6 smartphone-based EMA prompts/day. At each EMA prompt, participants reported their current positive and negative affect and physical feeling states. Participants wore an activPAL accelerometer to measure time spent standing and time spent stepping before and after the prompt. Separate multilevel random coefficient linear and logistic regression models examined these bidirectional relationships.

Results

On occasions when older adults engaged in more standing and more stepping than was typical for them in the 15 and 30 min prior to the EMA prompt, they tended to report greater feelings of energy at the prompt. On occasions when older adults reported greater feelings of energy than was typical for them, they engaged in more standing and more stepping in the 15 and 30 min following the EMA prompt. Positive and negative affect was unrelated to activity-related behaviors.

Conclusions

Feelings of energy appear to be strongly linked to activity-related behaviors in older adults; however, this was not the case for positive or negative affect. These findings may have implications for optimal delivery of just-in-time intervention context based on affective states or current behaviors.

Accelerometry, Mood, Naturalistic setting, Ambulatory assessment