Loneliness Predicts Reduced Physical Activity: Cross-Sectional & Longitudinal Analyses

By Louise C. Hawkley, R. Thisted, John T. Cacioppo. Health Psychology, 2009

608 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Objective To determine cross-sectional and prospective associations between loneliness and physical activity, and to evaluate the roles of social control and emotion regulation as mediators of these associations. Design A population-based sample of 229 White, Black, and Hispanic men and women, age 50 to 68 years at study onset, were tested annually for each of 3 years. Main Outcome Measures Physical activity probability, and changes in physical activity probability over a 3-year period. Results Replicating and extending prior cross-sectional research, loneliness was associated with a significantly reduced odds of physical activity (OR = 0.65 per SD of loneliness) net of sociodemographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, education, income), psychosocial variables (depressive symptoms, perceived stress, hostility, social support), and self-rated health. This association was mediated by hedonic emotion regulation, but not by social control as indexed by measures of social network size, marital status, contact with close ties, group membership, or religious group affiliation. Longitudinal analyses revealed that loneliness predicted diminished odds of physical activity in the next two years (OR = 0.61), and greater likelihood of transitioning from physical activity to inactivity (OR = 1.58). Conclusion Loneliness among middle and older age adults is an independent risk factor for physical inactivity and increases the likelihood that physical activity will be discontinued over time.

Subfields: General Health Professions, Health, Physiology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/aa486bec5e7ccf298bc956076c5e574d142eb78d

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In General Health Professions

In Health

In Physiology

Citations in the corpus

Loneliness, Health, and Mortality in Old Age: A National Longitudinal Study (2012, unknown): “…(Keysor, 2003; Lee & Park, 2006; Netuveli, Wiggins, Montgomery, Hildon, & Blane, 2008), and because lonely individuals are less likely to engage in physical activity than their non-lonely counterparts (Hawkley et al., 2009), they aremore likely to experience the onset or worsening of limitations.”
Routledge Handbook of Cultural Gerontology (2015, background): “, 2011); a range of negative health behaviours including smoking, excess alcohol consumption and lack of exercise (Hawkley et al., 2009; Lauder et al., 2006); three fold differential in general practitioner consultation rates between the lonely and non-lonely; and emergency hospital admission rates ”
Loneliness Matters: A Theoretical and Empirical Review of Consequences and Mechanisms (2010, unknown): “Compromised regulation of emotion in lonely individuals explained their diminished likelihood of performing any physical activity, and loneliness also predicted a decrease in physical activity over time [31].”
Loneliness and physical activity: A systematic review (2016, background): “Four further longitudinal studies examined the reverse mechanism, namely the influence of loneliness on physical activity over a period of two (Hawkley et al., 2009; Newall et al., 2012; Theeke, 2010) and six”
The Neuroendocrinology of Social Isolation (2014, background): “…to predict increased morbidity and mortality (e.g., Caspi et al. 2006, Holt-Lunstad et al. 2010, Patterson & Veenstra 2010, Penninx et al. 1997, Seeman 2000) even after adjusting for objective social isolation and health behaviors (Luo et al. 2012, Luo & Waite 2014; see also Hawkley et al. 2009).”