Attributions for physical activity in very old adults: predicting everyday physical activity and mortality risk

Abstract

Objectives: Although physical activity is recognised as a health-promoting behaviour for older adults, notable barriers exist that may reduce physical activity in this age group. Limited research has explored causal beliefs (attributions) as a barrier to physical activity. Our study assessed associations between older adults’ attributions about physical activity and objective health outcomes. Methods: We examined the role of attributions as a predictor of everyday physical activity (EPA) and subsequent mortality risk over a 10-year period (2006–2016) in a sample of older adults (M_age = 87, N = 261). Results: OLS and Cox proportional hazard regression analyses revealed older adults who endorsed more internal and uncontrollable attributions for limited activity (physical incapacity) when feeling unwell had lower subsequent EPA (β = −0.18), and higher 10-year mortality risk (HR = 1.46). Other attributions with different dimensional properties (e.g. internal and controllable) were not associated with EPA or mortality. Discussion: Findings suggest that causal beliefs older adults have about their physical activity can influence their future behaviour and longevity. Psychological treatments designed to discourage maladaptive attributional thinking for older populations who face barriers to physical activity may be an important avenue for future research.

Keywords:

• physical activity attributions
• attribution theory
• everyday physical activity
• survival

Acknowledgements

We want to extend our appreciation for access to the Aging in Manitoba Database founded by the late Dr. Betty Havens. In addition, we appreciate access to the provincial health registry provided by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Manitoba Health. The results and conclusions presented in this manuscript are those of the authors. No official endorsement by Manitoba Health is intended or should be inferred.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Notes

1 With the exception of physical incapacity and effort attributions, the stability dimensional property of the other attributions (difficulty and another’s involvement) may be open to interpretation or subjective to the individual (e.g. activities being too difficult may be seen as a stable cause for some but unstable for others). Thus, our study focused on the internal and controllable dimensions of the attributions, which is common practice in other attribution-related research (Stewart et al., 2012, 2016).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research under Operating Grant [MOP-130382]; and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada under Insight Grant [435-2016-0970].