Moving in Sync: Hourly Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior are Synchronized in Couples

Abstract

Background Overall time spent in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior are both correlated in couples. Knowledge about the nature and psychosocial correlates of such dyadic covariation could inform important avenues for physical activity promotion. Purpose The present study investigates hour-by-hour covariation between partners (i.e., synchrony) in MVPA and sedentary behavior as partners engage in their daily lives and links it with person-level MVPA/sedentary behavior, temporal characteristics, and relationship variables. Methods We used 7-day accelerometer data from two couple studies (Study 1, n = 306 couples, aged 18–80 years; Study 2, n = 108 couples, aged 60–87 years) to estimate dyadic covariation in hourly MVPA and sedentary behavior between partners. Data were analyzed using coordinated multilevel modeling. Results In both studies, hourly MVPA and sedentary behavior exhibited similarly sized dyadic covariation between partners in the low-to-medium range of effects. Higher MVPA synchrony between partners was linked with higher individual weekly MVPA and higher individual weekly sedentary levels, whereas higher sedentary synchrony between partners was associated with higher individual weekly MVPA but lower individual weekly sedentary levels. MVPA and sedentary synchrony were higher in the morning and evening, more pronounced on weekends, and associated with more time spent together, longer relationship duration, and time-varying perceptions of higher partner closeness. Conclusions This study demonstrates that MVPA and sedentary behaviors do not occur in a social vacuum. Instead, they are linked with close others such as partners. Thus, capitalizing on social partners may increase the effectiveness of individual-level physical activity interventions.

<p>Behavioral Conformity of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Older Couples with One Partner Suffering from End-Stage Osteoarthritis</p>

“…Close relationships are likely to have an impact on adults' levels of PA. 20 Therefore, the aim of our study was to objectively assess habitual PA and SB in couples consisting of end-stage (pre-arthroplasty) OA patients and their spouses as well as in control couples. In addition to the individual levels of performance, which largely depend on age and BMI, 48 we focused on the deviance between the spouses (i.e.…”

“…Most scientific research on PA focuses only on the individual and ignores the social environment, although it is already known that close relatives strongly influence this behavior. [18][19][20] Social learning theory suggests that people who spend a lot of time together emulate each other's behavior. 21 Especially among spouses, strong evidence has been found for the concordance of health behaviors that extends into later life.…”

“…18 In their recent work, Pauly and colleagues suggest two different underlying mechanisms that could contribute to PA concordance. 20 The first mechanism is based on the abovementioned shared environments (i.e. living conditions, financial resources, etc.)…”

“…This pair-related synchronicity was higher in the morning and afternoon hours, more pronounced at weekends, and generally dependent on time spent together, the relationship duration, and emotional closeness between partners. 20 Another group examined OA patients' PA depending on the activity and support of their spouses. They found that the spouses' autonomy support (for patient PA), as well as their own level of activity, was concurrently associated with patients' greater MVPA and steps.…”

Linked Lives: Exploring Gender and Sedentary Behaviors in Older Adult Couples

“…Repeated daily life assessments allow for granular assessment of couples as they engage in their connected daily life routines (Bolger & Laurenceau, 2013). Using this approach, we recently showed that physical activity and sedentary time is strongly linked between older spouses (Pauly et al, 2020). To our knowledge, there is only one published study to date (Harada, Masumoto, & Kondo, 2018) that investigated sedentary behavior in older couples, and they did not use repeated daily life assessments.…”