Abstract
Objectives: Older adults who are physically active report lower levels of stress. Less is known about the links between physical activity and exposure and reactivity to stressful events in daily life. The current study examined within-person associations between actigraphy-assessed daily physical activity and exposure and affective reactivity to naturally occurring interpersonal stressors. Method: Older adults (N = 180) from the Daily Experiences and Well-being Study completed ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) every 3 hr for 5–6 days where they reported negative affect throughout the day and interpersonal tensions at the end of the day. They also wore Actical accelerometers to capture physical activity. Results: Older adults reported greater numbers of interpersonal stressors on days when they spent less time being sedentary and engaged in more light physical activity. On days when older adults experienced more interpersonal stressors, they reported higher levels of negative affect, but this association was attenuated when they were more physically active that day. Discussion: Physical activity may bolster older adults’ capabilities to manage affective responses to interpersonal stressors in a more successful way. These findings underscore the importance of assessing physical activity and stressful events in daily life and have implications for both physical and psychological well-being.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 20-29 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences |
Volume | 78 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2022.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging (R01AG046460 to K. L. Fingerman) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD042849 to the Population Research Center [PRC] at the University of Texas at Austin).
Funders | Funder number |
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National Institute on Aging | R01AG046460 |
National Institute on Aging | |
University of Texas at Austin | |
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development | P2CHD042849 |
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development |
Keywords
- Actigraphy
- EMA
- Interpersonal stressors
- Negative affect
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Sociology and Political Science
- Life-span and Life-course Studies