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Positive Aging Expectations Are Associated With Physical Activity Among Urban-Dwelling Older Adults
- Source :
- The Gerontologist, vol 57, iss suppl_2
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Oxford University Press (OUP), 2017.
-
Abstract
- Purpose Regular physical activity is a key component of healthy aging, but few older adults meet physical activity guidelines. Poor aging expectations can contribute to this lack of activity, since negative stereotypes about the aging process can be internalized and affect physical performance. Although prior cross-sectional studies have shown that physical activity and aging expectations are associated, less is known about this association longitudinally, particularly among traditionally underrepresented groups. It is also unclear whether different domains of aging expectations are differentially associated with physical activity. Design and Methods The number of minutes/week of physical activity in which Baltimore Experience Corps Trial participants (N = 446; 92.6% African American) engaged were measured using the CHAMPS questionnaire, while their aging expectations were measured using the ERA-12 survey. Linear mixed effects models assessed the association between physical activity and aging expectations over 2 years, both in full and sex-stratified samples. Separate models were also fit for different ERA-12 domains. Results We found that higher overall expectations regarding aging are associated with higher engagement in moderate- to high-intensity physical activity over a 2-year period of time for women only. When the ERA-12 domains were examined separately, only the physical domain was associated with physical activity, both in women and overall. Implications Low expectations regarding physical aging may represent a barrier to physical activity for older adults. Given that most older adults do not meet recommended physical activity guidelines, identifying factors that improve aging expectations may be a way to increase physical activity levels in aging populations.
- Subjects :
- Male
Gerontology
Aging
and promotion of well-being
medicine.medical_specialty
Urban Population
Epidemiology
Clinical Sciences
Physical fitness
Physical activity
Attitudes & perception toward aging
Affect (psychology)
Basic Behavioral and Social Science
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Clinical Research
Surveys and Questionnaires
Behavioral and Social Science
medicine
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
030212 general & internal medicine
Healthy aging
Association (psychology)
Exercise
Aged
Cancer
African american
business.industry
General Medicine
Middle Aged
Prevention of disease and conditions
Black or African American
Analysis-hierarchical linear modeling
Baltimore
Linear Models
3.1 Primary prevention interventions to modify behaviours or promote wellbeing
Positive aging
Female
Geriatrics and Gerontology
business
Psychology
Attitude to Health
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Research Article
African American older adults
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17585341 and 00169013
- Volume :
- 57
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The Gerontologist
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....23aa518f08b30037fc6e869a1a92bd97