Neighborhood satisfaction, functional limitations, and self-efficacy influences on physical activity in older women.
BACKGROUND: Perceptions of one's environment and functional status have been linked to physical activity in older adults. However, little is known about these associations over time, and even less about the possible mediators of this relationship. We examined the roles played by neighborhood satisfaction, functional limitations, self-efficacy, and physical activity in a sample of older women over a 6-month period. METHODS: Participants (N = 137, M age = 69.6 years) completed measures of neighborhood satisfaction, functional limitations, self-efficacy, and physical activity at baseline and again 6 months later. RESULTS: Analyses indicated that changes in neighborhood satisfaction and functional limitations had direct effects on residual changes in self-efficacy, and changes in self-efficacy were associated with changes in physical activity at 6 months. CONCLUSION: Our findings support a social cognitive model of physical activity in which neighborhood satisfaction and functional status effects on physical activity are in part mediated by intermediate individual outcomes such as self-efficacy. Additionally, these findings lend support to the position that individual perceptions of both the environment and functional status can have prospective effects on self-efficacy cognitions and ultimately, physical activity behavior.
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Related Subject Headings
- Public Health
- 4207 Sports science and exercise
- 4202 Epidemiology
- 3210 Nutrition and dietetics
- 13 Education
- 11 Medical and Health Sciences
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Public Health
- 4207 Sports science and exercise
- 4202 Epidemiology
- 3210 Nutrition and dietetics
- 13 Education
- 11 Medical and Health Sciences