| The current study investigated individual and group-level daily relations between affect and physical activity among 37 non-sedentary community-dwelling older women. The study expected that (a) positive affect would hold a significant, positive synchronous relation with physical activity and (b) negative affect would hold a significant, negative synchronous relation with physical activity over six consecutive days. Women over age 55 (M = 71.5, SD = 9.4) participated by completing four daily assessments (8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm) of positive and negative affect and physical activity on a hand-held computer Monday through Saturday. Affect was measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Physical activity was measured using the Physical Activity Scale (PAS; Aadhal & Jorgensen, 2003). The PAS provided information on the level (i.e., metabolic equivalent values) and time in a physical activity to be later calculated as estimated energy expenditure. Regression curve estimations were conducted to determine individual relations among study variables. Thirty-five percent of participants held a significant positive relation between positive affect and physical activity over the study period. For negative affect and physical activity, 13.5% of participants held a significant, primarily negative relation between negative affect and physical activity. For both sets of analyses, significant linear and quadratic trends emerged. Group-level analyses used structural equation modeling to test day-to-day relations between affect and physical activity. No significant paths from affect to physical activity emerged; however early-week positive affect and physical activity predicted mid-week positive affect and physical activity, respectively. Repeated measures MANOVAs were conducted to determine if there were within-day differences in affect and physical activity. The study found both positive affect and physical activity follow similar, significant cubic trends within a day. Participants began their day with low levels of positive affect and physical activity, reported highest levels by 12pm, and a steady decline the remainder of the day. Discussion focuses on the future development of reliable and valid measures of daily affect and physical activity, the use of handheld computers among older women, and potential intervention implications regarding diurnal variations in affect and physical activity among community-dwelling older women. |
