Maintaining Healthy Behavior: a Prospective Study of Psychological Well-Being and Physical Activity

Abstract

Background Although higher psychological well-being has been linked with a range of positive biological processes and health outcomes, the prospective association between psychological well-being and physical activity among older adults has been understudied. Purpose We tested whether higher baseline psychological well-being predicted higher levels of physical activity over time. Methods Prospective data were from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a nationally representative sample of English adults over the age of 50. Our sample included 9,986 adults who were assessed up to six times across an average of 11 years. Results After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, each standard deviation increase in baseline psychological well-being was associated with higher median physical activity in linear regression models that examined physical activity across all six waves (β=0.20; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.18–0.21) and in linear mixed effect models that examined repeated measures of physical activity over the entire follow-up period (β=0.20; 95% CI: 0.19–0.21). Further, higher baseline psychological well-being was associated with a slower rate of decline in physical activity among people who were active at baseline (hazard ratio [HR]=0.79, 95% CI: 0.76–0.82) and increasing physical activity among people who were inactive at baseline (HR=1.28, 95% CI: 1.22–1.35). Findings were maintained after adjusting for baseline health status and depression. Conclusions Psychological well-being was independently associated with attaining and maintaining higher physical activity levels over 11 years, suggesting that it may be a valuable target for interventions aimed at helping older adults acquire more physical activity.

If, Why, and When Subjective Well-Being Influences Health, and Future Needed Research

“…Kim et al (2014) High satisfaction individuals used more preventative health services and thus had fewer doctor visits overall. Kim et al (2016) Psychological well-being predicted physical activity level over the ensuing 11 years in a nationally representative sample old older people in the United Kingdom, with initially active people better maintaining their activity, and initially inactive people becoming more active. Kirkcaldy & Furnham (2000) Rates of automobile accidents and deaths were lower in nations that are higher in positive affect.…”

Relationship between life satisfaction and preventable hospitalisations: a population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada

“…Out of the existing literature, there are three main mechanisms that could help explain the observed relationship: behavioural, health service use and biological. Subjective well-being has been shown to impact a variety of health behaviours, such as increased physical activity37–40 and reduced smoking habits 40. However, many of these studies lacked proper adjustment of confounding variables such as SES and psychological distress 40.…”

Would you be happier if you moved more? Physical activity focusing illusion

“…Physical activity has also been related to positive affect (Mata et al 2012). The relationship between physical activity and well-being is bi-directional as indicated by studies where baseline psychological well-being (a compound of pleasure and positive functioning) predicted future long-term physical activity outcomes (Kim et al 2016).…”