Longitudinal associations of Exercising with Others with Maintenance of Exercise Behavior and its Psychological Mechanisms Among Older Adults

• Published in: Journal of Physical Therapy for Prevention Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 39 - 50
• Main Authors: OTA, Koji, HARADA, Kazuhiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society of physical therapy for prevention 30.09.2023
• Subjects: Exercise; Healthy Aging; Mediation Analysis; Social Support; The Other
• ISSN: 2436-9950
• DOI: 10.57304/jptp.JPTP-D-23-00008

Objective: This study aimed to clarify whether exercising with others were associated with the maintenance of exercise behavior among older adults, mediated by psychological factors (social support, attitude, self-regulation, and self-efficacy). Methods: Web surveys were conducted with registered members aged 65-74 years. Among them, 274 individuals who engaged in exercise behavior at baseline and responded to the one-year follow-up surveys were analyzed. The surveys measured respondents’ exercise time, exercising alone or with others, psychological factors, demographics, and extraversion. Results: The multiple regression analysis revealed that exercising with others significantly regress the maintenance of exercise behavior for one year (β=.13, p=.027). The path analysis revealed that social support was associated with the maintenance of exercise behavior mediated by attitude, self-regulation, and self-efficacy; however, exercising with others was not significantly associated with psychological factors (β=-.05~.12, p=.054~.880). Conclusions: The present study indicated that these psychological factors did not mediate associations between exercis ing with others and maintenance of exercise behavior.