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Personality and Change in Physical Activity Across 3-10 Years
Abstract
Objective : To examine the association between personality traits, defined by the Five-Factor Model, and the initiation and termination of physical activity across adulthood.
Design : Longitudinal analysis of participants from nine samples (N > 28,000).
Main Outcome Measures : Physical activity status at follow-up
Results : A random-effect meta-analysis revealed that higher conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness were related to a higher likelihood of initiation of physical activity over time among individuals who were physically inactive at baseline and to a lower risk of termination of physical activity among those who were physically active at baseline. In contrast, higher neuroticism was associated with a lower probability of initiation of physical activity and a higher likelihood of termination over time. Although not hypothesised, agreeableness was also associated with better physical activity outcomes over time.
Conclusion : This study provides the largest and the longest evidence of a replicable association between personality and change in physical activity status. Personality may motivate both the initiation and termination of physical activity.
... These models suggest that personality traits can influence an individual' engagement in health-related behaviors, ultimately impacting their health status and their longevity. Among these behaviors, consistent associations were found between personality traits and self-reported PA and SB across different research designs (e.g., cross-sectional, longitudinal), cultures, age groups, and also in a pandemic context (Allen, Walter, & McDermott, 2017;Caille et al., 2024;Stephan et al., 2021;Sutin et al., 2016;Wilson & Dishman, 2015). From this abundant literature, it appears that two traits, namely neuroticism and conscientiousness, are consistently linked to unfavorable PA and SB patterns. ...
... From this abundant literature, it appears that two traits, namely neuroticism and conscientiousness, are consistently linked to unfavorable PA and SB patterns. Higher levels of neuroticism and lower levels of conscientiousness are both associated with higher SB, less PA (Sutin et al., 2016), decreased likelihood of initiating PA and increased the risk of dropping out of PA over time (Caille et al., 2024). In addition to the independent contribution of these two traits, research has suggested that the negative impact of neuroticism on health behaviors can be moderated by an individual's level of conscientiousness Stieger et al., 2020;Weston & Jackson, 2015). ...
... An a priori power analysis was performed using the G Power software (Version 3.1.9.6, Universität Düsseldorf). Lacking prior studies on predicting changes in PA following therapeutic intervention through personality traits, we relied on a noninterventional study that predicted the evolution of PA between two measurement times from personality (Caille et al., 2024). Considering an explained variance of 21%, equating to an effect size for the analysis of 0.2649008, with a bidirectional hypothesis, a statistical power of .90, and a Type 1 error rate set at .05, the necessary sample size was determined to be 72. ...
Objective: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is the gold standard treatment for improving the health status of individuals with chronic respiratory diseases (CRD). However, to achieve lasting results, the adoption and maintenance of a physically active lifestyle are necessary. Unfortunately, the trajectories of change in physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) following PR are marked by a high degree of heterogeneity between patients. This study aimed to better understand the factors underlying this variability by investigating the role played by the personality as defined by the five-factor model. Design: Eighty eight CRD patients were assessed on personality upon PR admission (Time 1). PA and SB were assessed at Time 1 and 6 months post-PR (Time 2) using questionnaires. Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that “healthy neuroticism” is associated with an increase in PA 6 months after PR (β = .20, p < .05) independently of the PA at Time 1. A high level of neuroticism, when it is paired with a low level of conscientiousness, is related to an increase in SB 6 months after PR (β = −.20, p < .01), when the SB and exercise tolerance at Time 1 were controlled for. Conclusion: These findings highlight that investigating the interaction between personality traits is relevant to a better understanding of the interindividual differences in changes in PA and SB after PR in patients with CRD. The behavioral effects of PR could be improved if patients’ personality traits were taken into account in the design of behavior-change interventions.
... Physical activity time and openness Physical activity time is correlated with openness [36,[38][39][40][41], with most studies suggesting a positive relationship between the two [42,43]. Caille et al. found that openness plays a protective role in initiating and maintaining physical activity [43]. ...
... Physical activity time and openness Physical activity time is correlated with openness [36,[38][39][40][41], with most studies suggesting a positive relationship between the two [42,43]. Caille et al. found that openness plays a protective role in initiating and maintaining physical activity [43]. Individuals with higher openness tend to be more curious and enjoy exploring new ideas and experiences, which may contribute to seeing physical activity as a way to experience new things [44]. ...
... It is worth noting that the relationship between physical activity time and openness might not be unidirectional [48]. Most studies are based on crosssectional data, and there is little discussion of the bidirectional relationship between physical activity time and openness [43]. Data from adults show that openness has a significant effect on physical activity, but the effect of physical activity on openness is insignificant [42]. ...
The relationship between physical activity time, openness and depression symptoms among adolescents is a cutting-edge research direction in the field, yet it remains unclear. This study is based on a sample of 7924 students from a nationally representative China Education Panel Survey database and examines the bidirectional relationships between physical activity time, openness and depression symptoms among Chinese adolescents. Descriptive analysis showed that during the 7th and 8th grades, the average physical activity time decreased to less than one hour per day, accompanied by a decreasing trend in openness and a slight worsening in depression symptoms. Correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between physical activity time and depression symptoms, a significant positive correlation between physical activity time and openness, and a significant negative correlation between depression symptoms and openness. The results from cross-lagged models indicated a bidirectional relationship between physical activity time and openness, with physical activity time significantly positively predicting openness in the following year and openness significantly positively predicting physical activity time in the following year. In addition, depression symptoms had a unidirectional negative predictive effect on openness. The conclusions provide empirical evidence for education administration and schools to promote the physical and mental health development of adolescents worldwide.
... Analyses of panel data from Australia uncovered the significance of personality for change in exercise, showing conscientiousness and openness predicted subsequent increases in exercise, whereas agreeableness predicted subsequent decreases (Allen et al., 2017). Based on nine large longitudinal samples, Caille et al. (2024) 2 of 18 -WANG ET AL. found higher extraversion, openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness were related to the initiation and maintenance of exercise over time, whereas higher neuroticism could precipitate exercise cessation. ...
... Sample items were "Is considerate and kind to almost everyone," and "Tends to be lazy." Previous analyses using this instrument have been conducted to ascertain its psychometric properties-good reliabilities, mean score stability over time, and external validity (Brandt et al., 2020;Caille et al., 2024;Hahn et al., 2012), making it fit for both cross-sectional and longitudinal research. In CFPS, reliabilities were a bit low due to smaller number of items (McDonald's ω ranging from 0.41 to 0.61), but were likely underestimated given that test-retest reliabilities for the scale were substantially higher than internal consistencies (Hahn et al., 2012). ...
Personality has constituted a significant psychological component predicting physical exercise. Prior research mostly focused on how personality domains are associated with exercise behaviour. Yet, focusing more closely on combinations of personality domains may be valuable in the future. The present cross‐sectional study aimed to bridge this gap by investigating the associations between Big Five personality profiles and exercise behaviour based on a person‐centred approach in adults. Data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) were used ( N = 28,304), in which participants reported their Big Five personality and exercise behaviour. Latent profile analyses, grounded in young adulthood, middle adulthood, and later adulthood sub‐samples, identified five personality profiles: moderate, reserved, confident, resilient, and vulnerable. Across three age groups, significant differences between the five personality profiles in relation to exercise behaviour were revealed. Individuals with the resilient or confident profiles generally had longer exercise duration while people with the vulnerable profile tended to exercise less. Our findings give greater insight into the relationship between exercise and personality, suggesting that different combinations of personality traits may determine individuals' exercise behaviour. It opens promising avenues for identification of adults at risk of lacking exercise, and for development of personality‐targeted exercise interventions.
... Personality traits have been investigated as predictors of physical activity (moderate physical activity and walking). A meta-analysis showed that conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness were positively associated with physical activity in individuals (37). Bidirectional associations between personality and physical activity in adulthood suggest that conscientiousness and openness predict subsequent increases in physical activity, while agreeableness predicts subsequent decreases in physical activity (38). ...
... Interventions may be improved if individuality is taken into account when designing the program. Previous studies have shown that personality predicts physical activity (37,39,41) and that physical activity positively affects creativity (29,35,42). This study also showed that openness had a positive effect on physical activity but a negative effect on creativity. ...
Background:
Previous studies have shown that personality affects creativity, and physical activity and is associated with cognitive function. However, the relationship among physical activity, creativity, and personality remains unclear. This study sought to examine the relationship among personality, physical activity, and creativity to identify relevant risk factors of trait creativity. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the effect of personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) on physical activity, the effect of physical activity on creativity traits.
Methods:
A total of 296 university students were recruited for this study. The survey was administered by WeChat. The self-reported questionnaires included questions related to demographic information, creativity (from the Williams Creativity Assessment Packet), the Big Five personality traits, and physical activity. A correlation analysis was conducted and the structural equation models were constructed using SPSSAU.
Results:
The SEM analysis showed that openness in personality was positively correlated with physical activity. Physical activity was negatively correlated with curiosity, challenging, risk-taking, and imagination.
Conclusions:
Among university students, openness may be a profound positive factor affecting physical activity. Moreover, physical activity was also associated with trait creativity. Consideration should be given to assessing personality traits and physical activity to ensure the selection of more creative students.
... In line with this, PA seems to stimulate the release of neurotransmitters playing a key role for affect, cognition, and creative abilities and achievements such as dopamine [52][53][54] . Interestingly, research indicated a relationship of PA with openness, the personality trait referring to the tendency to be creative and curious 55,56 . In this regard, Lydon-Staley 57 reported higher curiosity when people show more PA. ...
Beyond health, physical activity (PA) is associated with better creative ideation performance. People who are habitually more physically active produce more original ideas when asked to think creatively about an alternative use of an everyday object such as a brick. This aligns with findings indicating a positive relationship of PA with more basic cognition, such as memory, attention, as well as executive functioning. However, to the best of our knowledge, to date, no empirical research examined the link between PA (or inactivity) and real-life creative behavior. Therefore, this study investigated how objective and subjective assessments of PA relate to creative activities and achievements. In a sample of 156 participants wearing a mobile sensor for up to five consecutive days, less sedentary behavior and more moderate-to-vigorous PA were associated with more frequent creative activities. A similar pattern of associations occurred for self-rated habitual PA, which explained additional and unique variance of creative activities as well as creative achievements. For objective PA (assessed via sensor), we did not find associations with creative achievements, openness, and creative behavior. The results of this study suggest that the positive effects of habitual PA may generalize from better health, cognition, and creative ideation performance outcomes to more real-life creative behavior such as cooking original dishes and making music.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-024-80714-6.
... Physical activity is recommended as part of a healthy lifestyle for all, and especially as prophylaxis of cardiovascular diseases in HLSs [29]. However, high neuroticism, like in DP, is associated with less physical activity in both Norwegian [30] and French [31] population samples. We included disease-and treatment-related variables as possible confounders in our multivariable models. ...
Background and purpose
There are few studies of personality traits in long-term Hodgkin lymphoma survivors (HLSs) treated according to contemporary stage-and risk-adapted approaches. The Distressed Personality (DP) Scale covers negative affectivity and social inhibition. We examined differences in self-reported late adverse effects (LAEs) between HLSs with and without DP and other explanatory variables.
Material and methods
This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study included a population-based cohort of HLSs treated from 1997 to 2006, aged 8–49 years at diagnosis, and alive in 2016. Among 518 eligible HLSs, 303 responded (58%), and 294 completed the DP scale. DP was defined by scores above cut-off on both the negative affectivity and social inhibition subscales. LAEs studied were major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, sleep problems, obesity, neuropathy, fatigue, memory problems, and general health. DP and 10 other explanatory variables were tested against LAEs as dependent variables in multivariable regression analyses.
Results
The mean age at survey was 45.9 years (standard deviation [SD] 4.6), mean follow-up time 16.7 years (SD 3.0), and 48% were females. Eighty-two HLSs had DP (28%, 95% confidence interval 23% – 33%). All LAEs except obesity were significantly more common/had higher mean score in HLSs with DP. In multivariable analyses, presence of DP was significantly associated with all LAEs except obesity.
Interpretation
The presence of DP is common among HLSs. The presence of DP was associated with most self-report LAEs examined. Including assessment of personality traits in the survivorship care plans of HLSs should be considered. Prospective studies assessing the influence of pretreatment DP on LAEs are warranted.
Personality traits and preferred exercise environment of fitness club members
Cassio M. Meira Jr.1, Ana C. Gomes1, Maria T. Cattuzzo2, Carmen Flores-Mendoza3, Laura Tosini1, Marcelo Massa1
1 School of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2 Superior School of Physical Education, University of Pernambuco, Pernambuco, Brazil
3 College of Philosophy and Human Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Background: Fitness environment can be adjusted to better combine with salient personality characteristics. Nevertheless, previous research seems to neglect the personal characteristics of individuals. It would be beneficial if the fitness club environment will be adapted to the personality characteristics of their visitors because these changes could increase adherence to various exercise programs. However, there is a lack of research on individual preferences and predispositions of fitness club members.
Objective: The purpose of the present study was to assess associations between personality traits and physical/social environment preferences of fitness club members.
Methods: A total of 613 fitness club members (286 men and 327 women), age (M ± SD) 29.2 ± 10.1 years, answered 15 questions regarding physical and social environment preferences and the short version of the NEO-Five Factor Inventory.
Results: The path analysis showed that a general personality factor, represented by Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness, predicted preferred environment in a fitness club setting, especially concerning to performing new/repeated exercises and social aspects of exercise. Furthermore, Openness and Neuroticism did not correlate to fitness club exercise practice preferences.
Conclusions: The study found evidence suggesting that a general personality factor represented by Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness can predict preferred fitness environment regarding the performance of new/repeated exercises and social aspects of the exercise.
Keywords: preferences, individual differences, physical activity, gym
Objective
To assess the prospective associations of baseline and long term trajectories of physical activity on mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
Design
Population based cohort study.
Setting
Adults from the general population in the UK.
Participants
14 599 men and women (aged 40 to 79) from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Norfolk cohort, assessed at baseline (1993 to 1997) up to 2004 for lifestyle and other risk factors; then followed to 2016 for mortality (median of 12.5 years of follow-up, after the last exposure assessment).
Main exposure
Physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) derived from questionnaires, calibrated against combined movement and heart rate monitoring.
Main outcome measures
Mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Multivariable proportional hazards regression models were adjusted for age, sex, sociodemographics, and changes in medical history, overall diet quality, body mass index, blood pressure, triglycerides, and cholesterol levels.
Results
During 171 277 person years of follow-up, 3148 deaths occurred. Long term increases in PAEE were inversely associated with mortality, independent of baseline PAEE. For each 1 kJ/kg/day per year increase in PAEE (equivalent to a trajectory of being inactive at baseline and gradually, over five years, meeting the World Health Organization minimum physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity physical activity), hazard ratios were: 0.76 (95% confidence interval 0.71 to 0.82) for all cause mortality, 0.71 (0.62 to 0.82) for cardiovascular disease mortality, and 0.89 (0.79 to 0.99) for cancer mortality, adjusted for baseline PAEE, and established risk factors. Similar results were observed when analyses were stratified by medical history of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Joint analyses with baseline and trajectories of physical activity show that, compared with consistently inactive individuals, those with increasing physical activity trajectories over time experienced lower risks of mortality from all causes, with hazard ratios of 0.76 (0.65 to 0.88), 0.62 (0.53 to 0.72), and 0.58 (0.43 to 0.78) at low, medium, and high baseline physical activity, respectively. At the population level, meeting and maintaining at least the minimum physical activity recommendations would potentially prevent 46% of deaths associated with physical inactivity.
Conclusions
Middle aged and older adults, including those with cardiovascular disease and cancer, can gain substantial longevity benefits by becoming more physically active, irrespective of past physical activity levels and established risk factors. Considerable population health impacts can be attained with consistent engagement in physical activity during mid to late life.
Objective:
The health action process approach (HAPA) is a social-cognitive model specifying motivational and volitional determinants of health behavior. A meta-analysis of studies applying the HAPA in health behavior contexts was conducted to estimate the size and variability of correlations among model constructs, test model predictions, and test effects of past behavior and moderators (behavior type, sample type, measurement lag, study quality) on model relations.
Method:
A literature search identified 95 studies meeting inclusion criteria with 108 independent samples. Averaged corrected correlations among HAPA constructs and multivariate tests of model predictions were computed using conventional meta-analysis and meta-analytic structural equation modeling, with separate models estimated in each moderator group.
Results:
Action and maintenance self-efficacy and outcome expectancies had small-to-medium sized effects on health behavior, with effects of outcome expectancies and action self-efficacy mediated by intentions, and action and coping planning. Effects of risk perceptions and recovery self-efficacy were small by comparison. Past behavior attenuated the intention-behavior relationship. Few variations in model effects were observed across moderator groups. Effects of action self-efficacy on intentions and behavior were larger in studies on physical activity compared with studies on dietary behaviors, whereas effects of volitional self-efficacy on behavior were larger in studies on dietary behaviors.
Conclusions:
Findings highlight the importance of self-efficacy in predicting health behavior in motivational and volitional action phases. The analysis is expected to catalyze future research including experimental studies targeting change in individual HAPA constructs, and longitudinal research to examine change and reciprocal effects among constructs in the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Importance
Although the benefits of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in middle age are established, the health effects of long-term participation and changes in LTPA between adolescence and middle age have not been documented.
Objective
To determine whether an association exists between LTPA life course patterns and mortality.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This prospective cohort study used data from the National Institutes of Health–AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons) Diet and Health Study established in 1995 to 1996. Data analysis was conducted from March 2017 through February 2018. Data were analyzed for 315 059 adult AARP members living in 6 states, namely, California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, or Pennsylvania, or 2 metropolitan areas, Atlanta, Georgia, or Detroit, Michigan.
Exposures
Self-reported LTPA (hours per week) at the baseline interview for ages grouped as 15 to 18, 19 to 29, 35 to 39, and 40 to 61 years.
Main Outcomes and Measures
All-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD)–related, and cancer-related mortality records available through December 31, 2011.
Results
Of 315 059 participants, 183 451 (58.2%) were men, and the participants were 50 to 71 years of age at enrollment. Ten LTPA trajectories (categorized as maintaining, increasing, and decreasing LTPA across time) were identified, and 71 377 deaths due to all causes, 22 219 deaths due to CVD, and 16 388 deaths due to cancer occurred. Compared with participants who were consistently inactive throughout adulthood, participants who maintained the highest amount of LTPA in each age period were at lower risks for all-cause, CVD-related, and cancer-related mortality. For example, compared with participants who were consistently inactive, maintaining higher amounts of LTPA was associated with lower all-cause (hazard ratio [HR], 0.64; 95% CI, 0.60-0.68), CVD-related (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.53-0.64), and cancer-related (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.77-0.97) mortality. Adults who were less active throughout most of the adult life course but increased LTPA in later adulthood (40-61 years of age) also had lower risk for all-cause (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.62-0.68), CVD-related (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.53-0.61), and cancer-related (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77-0.92) mortality.
Conclusions and Relevance
Maintaining higher LTPA levels and increasing LTPA in later adulthood were associated with comparable low risk of mortality, suggesting that midlife is not too late to start physical activity. Inactive adults may be encouraged to be more active, whereas young adults who are already active may strive to maintain their activity level as they get older.
Background
In recent years, researchers have begun applying a trajectory approach to identify homogeneous subgroups of physical activity (PA) in heterogeneous populations. This study systematically reviewed the articles identifying longitudinal PA trajectory classes and the related factors (e.g., determinants, predictors, and outcomes) in the general population during different life phases.
Methods
The included studies used finite mixture models for identifying trajectories of PA, exercise, or sport participation. Three electronic databases, PubMed (Medline), Web of Science, and CINAHL, were searched from the year 2000 to 13 February 2018. The study was conducted according to the PRISMA recommendations.
Results
Twenty-seven articles were included and organized into three age group: youngest (eleven articles), middle (eight articles), and oldest (eight articles). The youngest group consisted mainly of youth, the middle group of adults and the oldest group of late middle-aged and older adults. Most commonly, three or four trajectory classes were reported. Several trajectories describing a decline in PA were reported, especially in the youngest group, whereas trajectories of consistently increasing PA were observed in the middle and oldest group. While the proportion of persistently physically inactive individuals increased with age, the proportion was relatively high at all ages. Generally, male gender, being Caucasian, non-smoking, having low television viewing time, higher socioeconomic status, no chronic illnesses, and family support for PA were associated either with persistent or increasing PA.
Conclusions
The reviewed articles identified various PA subgroups, indicating that finite mixture modeling can yield new information on the complexity of PA behavior compared to studying population mean PA level only. The studies also provided novel information how different factors relate to changes in PA during life course. The recognition of the PA subgroups and their determinants is important for the more precise targeting of PA promotion and PA interventions.
Trial registration
PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018088120.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6513-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Background:
Insufficient physical activity is a leading risk factor for non-communicable diseases, and has a negative effect on mental health and quality of life. We describe levels of insufficient physical activity across countries, and estimate global and regional trends.
Methods:
We pooled data from population-based surveys reporting the prevalence of insufficient physical activity, which included physical activity at work, at home, for transport, and during leisure time (ie, not doing at least 150 min of moderate-intensity, or 75 min of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week, or any equivalent combination of the two). We used regression models to adjust survey data to a standard definition and age groups. We estimated time trends using multilevel mixed-effects modelling.
Findings:
We included data from 358 surveys across 168 countries, including 1·9 million participants. Global age-standardised prevalence of insufficient physical activity was 27·5% (95% uncertainty interval 25·0-32·2) in 2016, with a difference between sexes of more than 8 percentage points (23·4%, 21·1-30·7, in men vs 31·7%, 28·6-39·0, in women). Between 2001, and 2016, levels of insufficient activity were stable (28·5%, 23·9-33·9, in 2001; change not significant). The highest levels in 2016, were in women in Latin America and the Caribbean (43·7%, 42·9-46·5), south Asia (43·0%, 29·6-74·9), and high-income Western countries (42·3%, 39·1-45·4), whereas the lowest levels were in men from Oceania (12·3%, 11·2-17·7), east and southeast Asia (17·6%, 15·7-23·9), and sub-Saharan Africa (17·9%, 15·1-20·5). Prevalence in 2016 was more than twice as high in high-income countries (36·8%, 35·0-38·0) as in low-income countries (16·2%, 14·2-17·9), and insufficient activity has increased in high-income countries over time (31·6%, 27·1-37·2, in 2001).
Interpretation:
If current trends continue, the 2025 global physical activity target (a 10% relative reduction in insufficient physical activity) will not be met. Policies to increase population levels of physical activity need to be prioritised and scaled up urgently.
Funding:
None.
Aim
To assess the relationship between time spent in light physical activity and cardiometabolic health and mortality in adults.
Design
Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Data sources
Searches in Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL and three rounds of hand searches.
Eligibility criteria for selecting studies
Experimental (including acute mechanistic studies and physical activity intervention programme) and observational studies (excluding case and case–control studies) conducted in adults (aged ≥18 years) published in English before February 2018 and reporting on the relationship between light physical activity (<3 metabolic equivalents) and cardiometabolic health outcomes or all-cause mortality.
Study appraisal and synthesis
Study quality appraisal with QUALSYST tool and random effects inverse variance meta-analysis.
Results
Seventy-two studies were eligible including 27 experimental studies (and 45 observational studies). Mechanistic experimental studies showed that short but frequent bouts of light-intensity activity throughout the day reduced postprandial glucose (−17.5%; 95% CI −26.2 to −8.7) and insulin (−25.1%; 95% CI −31.8 to –18.3) levels compared with continuous sitting, but there was very limited evidence for it affecting other cardiometabolic markers including mortality. Three light physical activity programme intervention studies (n ranging from 12 to 58) reduced adiposity, improved blood pressure and lipidaemia; the programmes consisted of activity of >150 min/week for at least 12 weeks. Six out of eight prospective observational studies that were entered in the meta-analysis reported that more time spent in daily light activity reduced risk of all-cause mortality (pooled HR 0.71; 95% CI 0.62 to 0.83).
Conclusions
Light-intensity physical activity could play a role in improving adult cardiometabolic health and reducing mortality risk. Frequent short bouts of light activity improve glycaemic control. Nevertheless, the modest volume of the prospective epidemiological evidence base and the moderate consistency between observational and laboratory evidence inhibits definitive conclusions.
Abstract Background Maintenance of physical activity (PA) during later life is associated with optimal health; however, the long-term trajectories of PA into old age and their predictors have not been extensively researched using latent class methods. This study aimed to identify trajectories of self-reported PA and their predictors in men transitioning from midlife to old age. Methods 7735 men (aged 40–59 years) recruited in 1978–80 were followed up after 12, 16 and 20 years, reporting PA, health status, lifestyle behaviours and socio-demographic characteristics. Group-based trajectory modelling identified the trajectories of PA and associations with time-stable and time-varying covariates. We considered a range of sociodemographic and health and lifestyle factors as potential covariates. Results 4952 men (mean baseline age 49.1 ± 5.6 years) providing PA data at ≥3 time points were included in analyses. Three distinct 20-year trajectories were identified: low decreasing (24.6%, n = 1218), light stable (51.1%, n = 2530) and moderate increasing (24.3%, n = 1204). Being older, having a manual occupation, having never married or had children, residing in the midlands or North of England, suffering from a range of health conditions, being a smoker/ex-smoker and never consuming breakfast cereal or alcohol were independently associated with reduced odds of belonging to the moderate increasing trajectory group compared to the low decreasing group. Of the time-varying covariates considered, leaving employment was associated with a decrease in PA in the low decreasing group (β −0.306, p
Background
Sedentary behavior is associated with health risks in adults. The potential benefits of reducing sedentary time may be dependent not only on decrease per se, but also on the type of activity it replaces. Few longitudinal studies have investigated the effects on mortality when replacing objectively assessed sedentary time with another physical activity (PA) behavior.
Objective
To investigate the effects of replacing objectively assessed sedentary time with time in light-intensity PA or moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality or cancer mortality in a cohort with 15 years follow-up time.
Methods
In total, 851 women and men from the population-based Sweden Attitude Behaviour and Change study were included. Time spent sedentary, in light-intensity PA and in MVPA were assessed using an Actigraph 7164 accelerometer. Mortality data were obtained from Swedish registers. Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HR) of mortality with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and isotemporal substitution models were used to estimate the effect of replacing sedentary behavior with PA for the same amount of time.
Results
Over a follow-up of 14.2 years (SD 1.9) with 12,117 person-years at risk, 79 deaths occurred, 24 deaths from CVD, 27 from cancer, and 28 from other causes. Replacing 30 minutes/day of sedentary time with light-intensity PA was associated with significant reduction in all-cause mortality risk (HR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81–0.98) and CVD mortality risk (HR: 0.76, 95% CI: 0.63–0.92). Replacing 10 minutes of sedentary time with MVPA was associated with reduction in CVD mortality risk (HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.42–0.91). No statistically significant reductions were found for cancer mortality.
Conclusion
This statistical modelling study suggests that replacing sedentary time with light-intensity PA could have beneficial effect on both all-cause mortality and CVD mortality. Replacing sedentary time with MVPA could reduce CVD mortality.
Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of persistence and non-persistence in leisure time physical activity on coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality. Methods and results In the Copenhagen City Heart Study, we prospectively followed 12,314 healthy subjects for 33 years of maximum follow-up with at least two repeated measures of physical activity. The association between persistence and non-persistence in leisure time physical activity, coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality were assessed by multivariable Cox regression analyses. Coronary heart disease mortality for persistent physical activity in leisure compared to persistent sedentary activity were: light hazard ratio (HR) 0.76; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63-0.92, moderate HR 0.52; 95% CI 0.41-0.67, and high physical activity HR 0.51; 95% CI, 0.30-0.88. The differences in longevity were 2.8 years for light, 4.5 years for moderate and 5.5 years for high physical activity. A substantial increase in physical activity was associated with lower coronary heart disease mortality (HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.52-1.08) corresponding to 2.4 years longer life, whereas a substantial decrease in physical activity was associated with higher coronary heart disease mortality (HR 1.61; 95% CI 1.11-2.33) corresponding to 4.2 years shorter life than the unchanged group. A similar pattern was observed for all-cause mortality. Conclusion We found inverse dose-response relationships between persistent leisure time physical activity and both coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality. A substantial increase in physical activity was associated with a significant gain in longevity, whereas a decrease in physical activity was associated with even greater loss of longevity.
Most studies on personality and physical activity have relied on self-report measures. This study examined the relation between Five Factor Model personality traits and objective physical activity in older adults. Sixty-nine participants (Mage = 80.2 years; SD = 7.1) wore the ActiGraph monitor for 7 days and completed the NEO Personality Inventory-3 First Half. Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were associated with more moderate physical activity and more steps per day whereas Neuroticism was inversely related to these physical activity measures (βs > .20). The associations for Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were attenuated by approximately 20–40% when accounting for disease burden and body mass index but were essentially unchanged for Extraversion and Agreeableness. These findings confirm self-report evidence that personality traits are associated with physical activity levels in older adults.
Objective:
Personality and physical activity are important for critical life outcomes. This study tested the hypothesis that there is a bidirectional association between personality and physical activity.
Method:
A nationally representative sample of 10,227 Australian adults (5,422 women; 4,805 men) completed self-report measures of physical activity and personality in 2006 (Time 1), 2010 (Time 2), and 2014 (Time 3). A latent change score modeling approach was used to test bidirectional associations, controlling for age, sex, education, physical health, and mental health.
Results:
Conscientiousness and openness predicted subsequent increases in physical activity, whereas agreeableness predicted subsequent decreases in physical activity. Physical activity was associated with increases in openness (and conscientiousness for women) at Time 1-Time 2, but was unrelated to change in personality between Time 2-Time 3. In addition, there was some evidence that temporal associations between personality and physical activity were moderated by participant age.
Conclusions:
These findings indicate that personality is important for change in physical activity, but physical activity is relatively unimportant for change in personality. (PsycINFO Database Record
Background:
Interventions delivered through new device technology, including mobile phone apps, appear to be an effective method to reach young adults. Previous research indicates that self-efficacy and social support for physical activity and self-regulation behavior change techniques (BCT), such as goal setting, feedback, and self-monitoring, are important for promoting physical activity; however, little is known about evaluations by the target population of BCTs applied to physical activity apps and whether these preferences are associated with individual personality characteristics.
Objective:
This study aimed to explore young adults' opinions regarding BCTs (including self-regulation techniques) applied in mobile phone physical activity apps, and to examine associations between personality characteristics and ratings of BCTs applied in physical activity apps.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional online survey among healthy 18 to 30-year-old adults (N=179). Data on participants' gender, age, height, weight, current education level, living situation, mobile phone use, personality traits, exercise self-efficacy, exercise self-identity, total physical activity level, and whether participants met Dutch physical activity guidelines were collected. Items for rating BCTs applied in physical activity apps were selected from a hierarchical taxonomy for BCTs, and were clustered into three BCT categories according to factor analysis: "goal setting and goal reviewing," "feedback and self-monitoring," and "social support and social comparison."
Results:
Most participants were female (n=146), highly educated (n=169), physically active, and had high levels of self-efficacy. In general, we observed high ratings of BCTs aimed to increase "goal setting and goal reviewing" and "feedback and self-monitoring," but not for BCTs addressing "social support and social comparison." Only 3 (out of 16 tested) significant associations between personality characteristics and BCTs were observed: "agreeableness" was related to more positive ratings of BCTs addressing "goal setting and goal reviewing" (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.06-2.41), "neuroticism" was related to BCTs addressing "feedback and self-monitoring" (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.58-1.00), and "exercise self-efficacy" was related to a high rating of BCTs addressing "feedback and self-monitoring" (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02-1.11). No associations were observed between personality characteristics (ie, personality, exercise self-efficacy, exercise self-identity) and participants' ratings of BCTs addressing "social support and social comparison."
Conclusions:
Young Dutch physically active adults rate self-regulation techniques as most positive and techniques addressing social support as less positive among mobile phone apps that aim to promote physical activity. Such ratings of BCTs differ according to personality traits and exercise self-efficacy. Future research should focus on which behavior change techniques in app-based interventions are most effective to increase physical activity.
Whether personality determines physical activity or its outcomes is relevant for theory and public health but has been understudied. We estimated the population correlations between Big-Five personality factors and physical activity and examined whether they varied according to sample characteristics and study features. Database searches were conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, for articles published in the English language prior to November 1st, 2013. Sixty-four studies including a total of 88,400 participants yielded effects (k) for Extraversion (88), Neuroticism (82), Conscientiousness (69), Openness (51) and Agreeableness (52). Significant mean r was found for Extraversion (r = .1076), Neuroticism (r = −.0710), Conscientiousness (r = .1037) and Openness (r = .0344), but not Agreeableness (r = .0020). Effects were moderately heterogeneous (I2 range = 44–65%) and varied by sample characteristics (e.g., age, gender, or clinical status) and/or study features (e.g., measure quality or item format). This analysis expands results of previous reviews and provides new support for a relationship between physical activity and Openness. Future studies should use better measures of physical activity and prospective designs, adjust for statistical artifacts, and consider advances in the conceptualization of personality.
A sociocultural motives perspective (SMP) on Big Five relationships is introduced. According to the SMP, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness elicit assimilation to sociocultural norms, Openness elicits contrast from these norms, and Extraversion and Neuroticism are independent of sociocultural assimilation and contrast. Due to sociocultural assimilation, then, relationships of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness with an outcome wax (become more positive or less negative) with that outcome's increasing sociocultural normativeness. Due to sociocultural contrast, relationships of Openness with an outcome wane (become less positive or more negative) with that outcome's increasing sociocultural normativeness. We tested the SMP using religiosity as our outcome. Study 1 included 4 cross-sectional self-report data sets across 66 countries (N = 1,129,334), 50 U.S. states (N = 1,057,342), 15 German federal states (N = 20,885), and 121 British urban areas (N = 386,315). Study 2 utilized informant-report data across 37 countries (N = 544,512). Study 3 used longitudinal data across 15 German federal states (N = 14,858). Results consistently supported the SMP. Relationships of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness with religiosity were more positive in religious sociocultural contexts than in secular contexts. Relationships of Openness with religiosity were more negative in religious sociocultural contexts than in secular contexts. At a more general level, the SMP offers theory-driven explanations for cross-cultural variations in Big Five relationships with their outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Objective
This study investigates how obedience in a Milgram-like experiment is predicted by inter-individual differences.Methods
Participants were 35 males and 31 females aged 26–54 from the general population who were contacted by phone eight months after their participation in a study transposing Milgram's obedience paradigm to the context of a fake television game show. Interviews were presented as opinion polls with no stated ties to the earlier experiment. Personality was assessed by the Big Five Mini-markers questionnaire (Saucier, 1994). Political orientation and social activism were also measured.ResultsResults confirmed hypotheses that conscientiousness and agreeableness would be associated with willingness to administer higher intensity electric shocks to a victim. Political orientation and social activism were also related to obedience.Conclusion
Our results provide empirical evidence suggesting that individual differences in personality and political variables matter in the explanation of obedience to authority.
Psychological stress and physical activity (PA) are believed to be reciprocally related; however, most research examining the relationship between these constructs is devoted to the study of exercise and/or PA as an instrument to mitigate distress.
The aim of this paper was to review the literature investigating the influence of stress on indicators of PA and exercise.
A systematic search of Web of Science, PubMed, and SPORTDiscus was employed to find all relevant studies focusing on human participants. Search terms included "stress", "exercise", and "physical activity". A rating scale (0-9) modified for this study was utilized to assess the quality of all studies with multiple time points.
The literature search found 168 studies that examined the influence of stress on PA. Studies varied widely in their theoretical orientation and included perceived stress, distress, life events, job strain, role strain, and work-family conflict but not lifetime cumulative adversity. To more clearly address the question, prospective studies (n = 55) were considered for further review, the majority of which indicated that psychological stress predicts less PA (behavioral inhibition) and/or exercise or more sedentary behavior (76.4 %). Both objective (i.e., life events) and subjective (i.e., distress) measures of stress related to reduced PA. Prospective studies investigating the effects of objective markers of stress nearly all agreed (six of seven studies) that stress has a negative effect on PA. This was true for research examining (a) PA at periods of objectively varying levels of stress (i.e., final examinations vs. a control time point) and (b) chronically stressed populations (e.g., caregivers, parents of children with a cancer diagnosis) that were less likely to be active than controls over time. Studies examining older adults (>50 years), cohorts with both men and women, and larger sample sizes (n > 100) were more likely to show an inverse association. 85.7 % of higher-quality prospective research (≥7 on a 9-point scale) showed the same trend. Interestingly, some prospective studies (18.2 %) report evidence that PA was positively impacted by stress (behavioral activation). This should not be surprising as some individuals utilize exercise to cope with stress. Several other factors may moderate stress and PA relationships, such as stages of change for exercise. Habitually active individuals exercise more in the face of stress, and those in beginning stages exercise less. Consequently, stress may have a differential impact on exercise adoption, maintenance, and relapse. Preliminary evidence suggests that combining stress management programming with exercise interventions may allay stress-related reductions in PA, though rigorous testing of these techniques has yet to be produced.
Overall, the majority of the literature finds that the experience of stress impairs efforts to be physically active. Future work should center on the development of a theory explaining the mechanisms underlying the multifarious influences of stress on PA behaviors.
The aim was to better understand the role of motives in exercise participation. It was hypothesised that motives influence exercise participation by influencing behavioural regulation, and that motives are themselves influenced by personality traits. Data were from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 252 office workers, mean age 40 years. Analysis was by structural equation modelling. According to the final model, appearance/weight motive increased external regulation, thereby reducing participation, and also increased introjected regulation. Health/fitness motive increased identified regulation, thereby increasing participation. Social engagement motive increased intrinsic regulation. Neuroticism increased appearance/weight motive, openness increased health/fitness motive, and conscientiousness, without affecting motives, reduced external and introjected regulation. It is inferred that exercise promotion programmes, without denigrating appearance/weight motive, should encourage other motives more conducive to autonomous motivation. †A presentation based on this data set was made at the Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, Galway, September, 2005.
Motivation is a critical factor in supporting sustained exercise, which in turn is associated with important health outcomes. Accordingly, research on exercise motivation from the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT) has grown considerably in recent years. Previous reviews have been mostly narrative and theoretical. Aiming at a more comprehensive review of empirical data, this article examines the empirical literature on the relations between key SDT-based constructs and exercise and physical activity behavioral outcomes.
This systematic review includes 66 empirical studies published up to June 2011, including experimental, cross-sectional, and prospective studies that have measured exercise causality orientations, autonomy/need support and need satisfaction, exercise motives (or goal contents), and exercise self-regulations and motivation. We also studied SDT-based interventions aimed at increasing exercise behavior. In all studies, actual or self-reported exercise/physical activity, including attendance, was analyzed as the dependent variable. Findings are summarized based on quantitative analysis of the evidence.
The results show consistent support for a positive relation between more autonomous forms of motivation and exercise, with a trend towards identified regulation predicting initial/short-term adoption more strongly than intrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation being more predictive of long-term exercise adherence. The literature is also consistent in that competence satisfaction and more intrinsic motives positively predict exercise participation across a range of samples and settings. Mixed evidence was found concerning the role of other types of motives (e.g., health/fitness and body-related), and also the specific nature and consequences of introjected regulation. The majority of studies have employed descriptive (i.e., non-experimental) designs but similar results are found across cross-sectional, prospective, and experimental designs.
Overall, the literature provides good evidence for the value of SDT in understanding exercise behavior, demonstrating the importance of autonomous (identified and intrinsic) regulations in fostering physical activity. Nevertheless, there remain some inconsistencies and mixed evidence with regard to the relations between specific SDT constructs and exercise. Particular limitations concerning the different associations explored in the literature are discussed in the context of refining the application of SDT to exercise and physical activity promotion, and integrating these with avenues for future research.
Seven experts on personality measurement here discuss the viability of public-domain personality measures, focusing on the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) as a prototype. Since its inception in 1996, the use of items and scales from the IPIP has increased dramatically. Items from the IPIP have been translated from English into more than 25 other languages. Currently over 80 publications using IPIP scales are listed at the IPIP Web site (http://ipip.ori.org), and the rate of IPIP-related publications has been increasing rapidly. The growing popularity of the IPIP can be attributed to five factors: (1) It is cost free; (2) its items can be obtained instantaneously via the Internet; (3) it includes over 2000 items, all easily available for inspection; (4) scoring keys for IPIP scales are provided; and (5) its items can be presented in any order, interspersed with other items, reworded, translated into other languages, and administered on the World Wide Web without asking permission of anyone. The unrestricted availability of the IPIP raises concerns about possible misuse by unqualified persons, and the freedom of researchers to use the IPIP in idiosyncratic ways raises the possibility of fragmentation rather than scientific unification in personality research.
The dose-response relation between physical activity and all-cause mortality is not well defined at present. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the association with all-cause mortality of different domains of physical activity and of defined increases in physical activity and energy expenditure.
MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched up to September 2010 for cohort studies examining all-cause mortality across different domains and levels of physical activity in adult general populations. We estimated combined risk ratios (RRs) associated with defined increments and recommended levels, using random-effects meta-analysis and dose-response meta-regression models.
Data from 80 studies with 1 338 143 participants (118 121 deaths) were included. Combined RRs comparing highest with lowest activity levels were 0.65 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.60-0.71] for total activity, 0.74 (95% CI 0.70-0.77) for leisure activity, 0.64 (95% CI 0.55-0.75) for activities of daily living and 0.83 (95% CI 0.71-0.97) for occupational activity. RRs per 1-h increment per week were 0.91 (95% CI 0.87-0.94) for vigorous exercise and 0.96 (95% CI 0.93-0.98) for moderate-intensity activities of daily living. RRs corresponding to 150 and 300 min/week of moderate to vigorous activity were 0.86 (95% CI 0.80-0.92) and 0.74 (95% CI 0.65-0.85), respectively. Mortality reductions were more pronounced in women.
Higher levels of total and domain-specific physical activity were associated with reduced all-cause mortality. Risk reduction per unit of time increase was largest for vigorous exercise. Moderate-intensity activities of daily living were to a lesser extent beneficial in reducing mortality.
The present study addresses issues of measurement invariance and comparability of factor parameters of Big Five personality adjective items across age. Data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) survey were used to investigate age-related developmental psychometrics of the MIDUS personality adjective items in 2 large cross-sectional samples (exploratory sample: N = 862; analysis sample: N = 3,000). After having established and replicated a comprehensive 5-factor structure of the measure, increasing levels of measurement invariance were tested across 10 age groups. Results indicate that the measure demonstrates strict measurement invariance in terms of number of factors and factor loadings. Also, we found that factor variances and covariances were equal across age groups. By contrast, a number of age-related factor mean differences emerged. The practical implications of these results are discussed, and future research is suggested.
or
Prospective studies linking social factors to long term patterns of physical activity are lacking. In this 22 year longitudinal study, we seek to identify long term patterns of involvement in leisure time physical activity (LTPA), and explore socioeconomic and demographic predictors of distinct LTPA trajectories.
Among 2102 individuals aged 18-60 years in 1981 who participated in the 1981 Canada Fitness Survey/1988 Campbell's Survey of Well-Being, 1186 (56.4%) completed questionnaires for the 2002/04 follow-up. Complete data on LTPA at all 3 surveys were available for 884 participants. Latent class growth analysis was used to identify major classes of LTPA trajectories; predictors of class membership were identified using polytomous logistic regression.
Four latent classes were identified: inactive, increasers, active, and decreasers (53%, 26%, 12%, and 9% of participants, respectively). Women, older participants, those with lower household income, and with lower educational attainment, were significantly less likely to follow active (Vs. inactive) trajectories of LTPA. Disadvantaged groups with respect to education and income were also significantly more likely to follow decreasing (Vs. active) trajectories.
There is a need for continued efforts to increase overall population levels of LTPA, particularly among socially disadvantaged groups with respect to income and education, who are most likely to experience unfavorable trajectories of LTPA.
Accurate assessment is required to assess current and changing physical activity levels, and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions designed to increase activity levels. This study systematically reviewed the literature to determine the extent of agreement between subjectively (self-report e.g. questionnaire, diary) and objectively (directly measured; e.g. accelerometry, doubly labeled water) assessed physical activity in adults.
Eight electronic databases were searched to identify observational and experimental studies of adult populations. Searching identified 4,463 potential articles. Initial screening found that 293 examined the relationship between self-reported and directly measured physical activity and met the eligibility criteria. Data abstraction was completed for 187 articles, which described comparable data and/or comparisons, while 76 articles lacked comparable data or comparisons, and a further 30 did not meet the review's eligibility requirements. A risk of bias assessment was conducted for all articles from which data was abstracted.
Correlations between self-report and direct measures were generally low-to-moderate and ranged from -0.71 to 0.96. No clear pattern emerged for the mean differences between self-report and direct measures of physical activity. Trends differed by measure of physical activity employed, level of physical activity measured, and the gender of participants. Results of the risk of bias assessment indicated that 38% of the studies had lower quality scores.
The findings suggest that the measurement method may have a significant impact on the observed levels of physical activity. Self-report measures of physical activity were both higher and lower than directly measured levels of physical activity, which poses a problem for both reliance on self-report measures and for attempts to correct for self-report - direct measure differences. This review reveals the need for valid, accurate and reliable measures of physical activity in evaluating current and changing physical activity levels, physical activity interventions, and the relationships between physical activity and health outcomes.
Human beings can be proactive and engaged or, alternatively, passive and alienated, largely as a function of the social conditions in which they develop and function. Accordingly, research guided by self-determination theory has focused on the social-contextual conditions that facilitate versus forestall the natural processes of self-motivation and healthy psychological development. Specifically, factors have been examined that enhance versus undermine intrinsic motivation, self-regulation, and well-being. The findings have led to the postulate of three innate psychological needs--competence, autonomy, and relatedness--which when satisfied yield enhanced self-motivation and mental health and when thwarted lead to diminished motivation and well-being. Also considered is the significance of these psychological needs and processes within domains such as health care, education, work, sport, religion, and psychotherapy.
This study describes educational differences in decreases in leisure time physical activity among an adult, physically active population and additionally attempts to identify predictors of these differences from information on health status and individual and environmental factors.
Prospective population based study. Baseline measurement were carried out in 1991 and follow up in 1997.
South eastern part of the Netherlands.
The study included 3793 subjects who were physically active in 1991 and who participated in the follow up.
Potential predictors of decreasing physical activity were measured in 1991. Logistic regression analyses were carried out for two age groups (< 45 years; > or = 45 years) separately.
Lower educated respondents experienced statistically significant higher odds to decrease physical activity during follow up, compared with respondents with higher vocational schooling or a university degree. Perceived control was the main predictor of educational differences in decreasing physical activity in both age groups. In the older group, material problems and a poor perceived health experienced by lower educated people additionally predicted educational differences in decreases in physical activity during leisure time.
These findings have important implications for health promotion practice and policy to prevent socioeconomic differences in physical inactivity and health. There is a need for evidence-based interventions that improve perceived control and reduce material problems in lower educated groups.
Cochrane Reviews have recently started including the quantity I 2 to help readers assess the consistency of the results of studies in meta-analyses. What does this new quantity mean, and why is assessment of heterogeneity so important to clinical practice?
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses can provide convincing and reliable evidence relevant to many aspects of medicine and health care.1 Their value is especially clear when the results of the studies they include show clinically important effects of similar magnitude. However, the conclusions are less clear when the included studies have differing results. In an attempt to establish whether studies are consistent, reports of meta-analyses commonly present a statistical test of heterogeneity. The test seeks to determine whether there are genuine differences underlying the results of the studies (heterogeneity), or whether the variation in findings is compatible with chance alone (homogeneity). However, the test is susceptible to the number of trials included in the meta-analysis. We have developed a new quantity, I 2, which we believe gives a better measure of the consistency between trials in a meta-analysis.
Assessment of the consistency of effects across studies is an essential part of meta-analysis. Unless we know how consistent the results of studies are, we cannot determine the generalisability of the findings of the meta-analysis. Indeed, several hierarchical systems for grading evidence state that the results of studies must be consistent or homogeneous to obtain the highest grading.2–4
Tests for heterogeneity are commonly used to decide on methods for combining studies and for concluding consistency or inconsistency of findings.5 6 But what does the test achieve in practice, and how should the resulting P values be interpreted?
A test for heterogeneity examines the null hypothesis that all studies are evaluating the same effect. The usual test statistic …
Fear of falling in older adults has been associated with generalised anxiety and may lead to avoidance of activities, with a further negative impact on future falls. Individual differences in personality associated with anxiety have not been previously examined in relation to fear of falling. Current assessment measures and interventions designed to reduce fear of falling in older adults do not take into account perceptions of anxiety associated with individual differences in personality.
To determine whether the core personality trait dimension of neuroticism can predict fear of falling in a community-dwelling sample of women > or = 70 years of age.
Cross-sectional data from 1,691 UK, community-dwelling female participants aged > or = 70 years were examined using multiple and logistic regression analysis. Fear of falling was measured on a 6-point Likert scale. Neuroticism was measured using the Eysenck personality inventory.
The significant independent odds ratios (OR) of predicting fear of falling were: neuroticism (OR 1.47 per SD increase, P<0.001), history of falling (OR 1.57, P<0.001), experience of fracture (OR 1.78, P = 0.014), need to use both arms to push up to rise from a chair (OR 1.56, P = 0.001), poor subjective general health, as measured by the SF12 (OR 1.63 per SD decrease, P<0.001) and living alone (OR 1.31, P = 0.031).
Neuroticism seems to be an important psychological factor in the experience of fear of falling in community-dwelling older women. It may be relevant for inclusion in current assessment measures and for consideration in the design of interventions to reduce fear of falling.
We provide a brief review of the literature on exercise effects on brain and cognition. To this end, we focus on both prospective and retrospective human epidemiological studies that have examined the influence of exercise and physical activity on cognition and dementia. We then examine the relatively small set of human randomized clinical trials that have, for the most part, focused on exercise training effects on cognition. Next, we discuss animal research that has examined the molecular, cellular, and behavioral effects of exercise training. Finally, we conclude with a summary and brief discussion of important future directions of research on fitness cognition and brain.
This review aimed to combine the literature on major personality traits and physical activity alongside providing some meta-analytic summaries of the findings. Overall, 33 studies containing 35 independent samples, ranging from 1969 to 2006, met the inclusion criteria. Extraversion (r = 0.23), neuroticism (r = -0.11) and conscientiousness (r = 0.20) were identified as correlates of physical activity using random effects meta-analytic procedures correcting for sampling bias and attenuation of measurement error. The five-factor model traits of openness to experience/intellect and agreeableness, as well as Eysenck's psychoticism trait, were not associated with physical activity. Potential moderators of personality and physical activity relationships such as sex, age, culture/country, design and instrumentation were inconclusive given the small number of studies. Still, the existing evidence was suggestive that personality and physical activity relationships are relatively invariant to these factors. Studies examining personality and different physical activity modes suggested differences by traits such as extraversion, but more research is needed to make any conclusions. Future research using multivariate analyses, personality-channelled physical activity interventions, longitudinal designs and objective physical activity measurement is recommended.
Personality traits are related to health behaviours, but it is unknown whether changes in personality would lead to changes in health behaviours. We examined whether naturally occurring, within‐individual variation in personality traits over time is associated with corresponding changes in smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and body mass index. Data were from seven longitudinal cohort studies with a total sample of 56 786 participants with two or three repeated measurements of the Five Factor Model personality traits assessed over 4 to 19 years. Repeated measurements were used to tease apart between‐individual and within‐individual associations. In the within‐individual analysis, all the personality traits were associated with physical activity, and extraversion was associated with risky alcohol consumption. There were no other within‐individual associations. In the between‐individual analysis, lower conscientiousness, emotional stability, agreeableness, and openness to experience, and higher extraversion, were associated with many risky health behaviours. Our findings suggest that health behaviours are related mostly to stable, between‐individual differences in personality traits, but changes in adult personality may have only limited association with changes in health behaviours. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology
To describe 10-year changes in accelerometer-determined physical activity (PA) and sedentary time in a midlife cohort, within and by race/sex groups. Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults participants (n = 962) who wore the accelerometer with valid wear (≥4 of 7 days, ≥10 hours per day) at baseline (2005-06; ages 38-50; ActiGraph 7164) and 10-year follow-up (2015-16; ages 48-60; ActiGraph wGT3X-BT). Data were calibrated to account for accelerometer model differences. Participants (aged 45.0 ± 3.5 years at baseline) experienced reductions in accelerometer counts overall [-65.5 (10.2) ct·min·d-1], and within race/sex groups (all p < 0.001). Sedentary time increased overall [37.9 (3.7) min∙d-1], and within race/sex groups, while light intensity PA [-30.6 (2.7) min∙d-1] and moderate to vigorous intensity PA both declined overall [-7.5 (0.8) min∙d-1], and within race/sex groups (all p < 0.001). Significant differences in 10-year change estimates were noted by race/sex groups for accelerometer counts, sedentary time, and moderate to vigorous intensity PA bouts with black men experiencing the greatest reductions in PA compared to other groups. PA declines during midlife were characterized by reductions in light intensity PA with increases in sedentary time, which may have important health consequences. Targeted efforts are needed to preserve PA, regardless of intensity level, across midlife.
A physically inactive lifestyle is associated with maladaptive patterns of personality development over relatively short follow-up periods. The present study extends existing research by examining whether this association persists over 20 years. Participants (total N = 8723) were drawn from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study Graduates and Siblings samples and the Midlife in the United States Study. Controlling for demographic factors and disease burden, baseline physical inactivity was related to steeper declines in conscientiousness in all three samples and a meta-analysis (β = -0.06). The meta-analysis further showed that lower physical activity was associated with declines in openness (β = -0.05), extraversion (β = -0.03), and agreeableness (β = -0.03). These findings provide evidence that a physically inactive lifestyle is associated with long-term detrimental personality trajectories.
Background:
High amounts of sedentary behaviour have been associated with increased risks of several chronic conditions and mortality. However, it is unclear whether physical activity attenuates or even eliminates the detrimental effects of prolonged sitting. We examined the associations of sedentary behaviour and physical activity with all-cause mortality.
Methods:
We did a systematic review, searching six databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, Web of Science, Sport Discus, and Scopus) from database inception until October, 2015, for prospective cohort studies that had individual level exposure and outcome data, provided data on both daily sitting or TV-viewing time and physical activity, and reported effect estimates for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, or breast, colon, and colorectal cancer mortality. We included data from 16 studies, of which 14 were identified through a systematic review and two were additional unpublished studies where pertinent data were available. All study data were analysed according to a harmonised protocol, which categorised reported daily sitting time and TV-viewing time into four standardised groups each, and physical activity into quartiles (in metabolic equivalent of task [MET]-hours per week). We then combined data across all studies to analyse the association of daily sitting time and physical activity with all-cause mortality, and estimated summary hazard ratios using Cox regression. We repeated these analyses using TV-viewing time instead of daily sitting time.
Findings:
Of the 16 studies included in the meta-analysis, 13 studies provided data on sitting time and all-cause mortality. These studies included 1 005 791 individuals who were followed up for 2-18·1 years, during which 84 609 (8·4%) died. Compared with the referent group (ie, those sitting <4 h/day and in the most active quartile [>35·5 MET-h per week]), mortality rates during follow-up were 12-59% higher in the two lowest quartiles of physical activity (from HR=1·12, 95% CI 1·08-1·16, for the second lowest quartile of physical activity [<16 MET-h per week] and sitting <4 h/day; to HR=1·59, 1·52-1·66, for the lowest quartile of physical activity [<2·5 MET-h per week] and sitting >8 h/day). Daily sitting time was not associated with increased all-cause mortality in those in the most active quartile of physical activity. Compared with the referent (<4 h of sitting per day and highest quartile of physical activity [>35·5 MET-h per week]), there was no increased risk of mortality during follow-up in those who sat for more than 8 h/day but who also reported >35·5 MET-h per week of activity (HR=1·04; 95% CI 0·99-1·10). By contrast, those who sat the least (<4 h/day) and were in the lowest activity quartile (<2·5 MET-h per week) had a significantly increased risk of dying during follow-up (HR=1·27, 95% CI 1·22-1·31). Six studies had data on TV-viewing time (N=465 450; 43 740 deaths). Watching TV for 3 h or more per day was associated with increased mortality regardless of physical activity, except in the most active quartile, where mortality was significantly increased only in people who watched TV for 5 h/day or more (HR=1·16, 1·05-1·28).
Interpretation:
High levels of moderate intensity physical activity (ie, about 60-75 min per day) seem to eliminate the increased risk of death associated with high sitting time. However, this high activity level attenuates, but does not eliminate the increased risk associated with high TV-viewing time. These results provide further evidence on the benefits of physical activity, particularly in societies where increasing numbers of people have to sit for long hours for work and may also inform future public health recommendations.
Funding:
None.
A sedentary lifestyle is harmful for health; personality traits may contribute to physical (in)activity. With participant-level data from 16 samples (N>125,000), we examined the personality correlates of physical inactivity, frequency of physical activity, and sedentary behavior (in a subset of samples). Lower Neuroticism and higher Conscientiousness were associated with more physical activity and less inactivity and sedentary behavior. Extraversion and Openness were also associated with more physical activity and less inactivity, but these traits were mostly unrelated to specific sedentary behaviors (e.g., TV watching). The results generally did not vary by age or sex. The findings support the notion that the interest, motivational, emotional, and interpersonal processes assessed by five-factor model traits partly shape the individual’s engagement in physical activity.
Purpose:
Research demonstrates that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Few studies have examined the effects of light-intensity physical activity on mortality. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between objectively measured light-intensity physical activity and all-cause mortality risk.
Design:
Longitudinal.
Setting:
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2006 with follow-up through December 31, 2011.
Subjects:
Five thousand five hundred seventy-five U.S. adults.
Measures:
Participants wore an accelerometer for at least 4 days and completed questionnaires to assess sociodemographics and chronic disease information, with blood samples taken to assess biological markers. Follow-up mortality status was assessed via death certificate data from the National Death Index.
Analysis:
Cox proportional hazard model.
Results:
After adjusting for accelerometer-determined MVPA, age, gender, race-ethnicity, cotinine, weight status, poverty level, C-reactive protein, and comorbid illness, for every 60-minute increase in accelerometer-determined light-intensity physical activity, participants had a 16% reduced hazard of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio = .84; 95% confidence interval: .78-.91; p < .001).
Conclusion:
In this national sample of U.S. adults, light-intensity physical activity was inversely associated with all-cause mortality risk, independent of age, MVPA, and other potential confounders. In addition to MVPA, promotion of light-intensity physical activity is warranted.
Importance
Associations have been documented between physical activity and depressive symptoms, but the direction of this association is unclear.Objective
To examine whether depressive symptoms are concurrent with physical activity and to examine the direction of the relationship from 23 to 50 years of age.Design, Setting, and Participants
Participants included members of the 1958 British Birth Cohort, a general population sample of all persons born in England, Scotland, and Wales in a single week in March 1958 who were followed up to 50 years of age (2008). We included approximately 11 000 cohort members with information on depressive symptoms or frequency of physical activity at 23, 33, 42, or 50 years of age.Exposures
Depressive symptoms were measured using the Psychological subscale of the Malaise Inventory; frequency of physical activity, by questionnaire.Main Outcomes and Measures
Number of depressive symptoms (on a scale of 0 to 15 items), depression (defined as being in the top 10% for symptoms at 23, 33, 42, or 50 years of age), and frequency of physical activity (times per week).Results
At most ages, we found a trend of fewer depressive symptoms with more frequent activity; for example, per higher frequency of activity per week at 50 years of age, the mean number of symptoms was lower by 0.06 (95% CI, −0.09 to −0.04). In longitudinal analyses, activity was associated with fewer symptoms from 23 to 50 years of age (per higher frequency of activity per week, symptoms were lower by 0.06 [95% CI, −0.07 to −0.05]), and the magnitude of association did not vary with age (P = .21 for interaction). Those who were inactive at 23 years of age and remained inactive 5 years later showed no change in symptom level (mean difference, −0.01 [95% CI, −0.04 to 0.02]); those increasing activity to 3 times/wk had a lower mean number of symptoms (mean difference, −0.18 [95% CI, −0.22 to −0.15]). Such differences equate to estimated reductions in odds of depression by 19%. A longitudinal relationship observed between symptoms and activity weakened with age (P < .001 for interaction). Mean activity among those with no symptoms at 23 years of age and 5 years later was higher by 0.60 (95% CI, 0.57-0.64) times/wk; in those with 1 additional depressive symptom, 0.53 (95% CI, 0.49-0.56) times/wk. Activity frequency did not differ among those with no symptoms at 43 years of age who subsequently had 0 or 1 symptom at 48 years of age. Associations for depression were generally similar to those for the full symptom spectrum.Conclusions and Relevance
The relationship between activity and depressive symptoms was bidirectional, albeit more persistent during adult life in the direction from activity to depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that activity may alleviate depressive symptoms in the general population and, in turn, depressive symptoms in early adulthood may be a barrier to activity.
Personality traits are associated with a number of health-related factors; less is known about how such factors contribute to adult personality development. Based on evidence for the protective role of physical activity for individual functioning, the present study tests whether physical activity contributes to personality stability and change. Using longitudinal data from the Midlife in the United States study (N= 3758) and the Health and Retirement Study (N= 3774), we found that more physically active individuals declined less on conscientiousness, extraversion, openness and agreeableness, and had higher rank-order stability and profile consistency over time. These findings suggest that physical activity may help preserve personality stability and prevent maladaptive personality changes across adulthood and old age.
Strong evidence shows that physical inactivity increases the risk of many adverse health conditions, including major non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and breast and colon cancers, and shortens life expectancy. Because much of the world's population is inactive, this link presents a major public health issue. We aimed to quantify the eff ect of physical inactivity on these major non-communicable diseases by estimating how much disease could be averted if inactive people were to become active and to estimate gain in life expectancy at the population level.
For our analysis of burden of disease, we calculated population attributable fractions (PAFs) associated with physical inactivity using conservative assumptions for each of the major non-communicable diseases, by country, to estimate how much disease could be averted if physical inactivity were eliminated. We used life-table analysis to estimate gains in life expectancy of the population.
Worldwide, we estimate that physical inactivity causes 6% (ranging from 3·2% in southeast Asia to 7·8% in the eastern Mediterranean region) of the burden of disease from coronary heart disease, 7% (3·9-9·6) of type 2 diabetes, 10% (5·6-14·1) of breast cancer, and 10% (5·7-13·8) of colon cancer. Inactivity causes 9% (range 5·1-12·5) of premature mortality, or more than 5·3 million of the 57 million deaths that occurred worldwide in 2008. If inactivity were not eliminated, but decreased instead by 10% or 25%, more than 533 000 and more than 1·3 million deaths, respectively, could be averted every year. We estimated that elimination of physical inactivity would increase the life expectancy of the world's population by 0·68 (range 0·41-0·95) years.
Physical inactivity has a major health eff ect worldwide. Decrease in or removal of this unhealthy behaviour could improve health substantially.
None.
Walking is a way to encourage regular physical exercise among sedentary individuals. Research suggests that highly conscientious individuals are more likely to engage in health behaviours, particularly when they are also motivated to do so. We examine the impact of a brief intervention using an affective (enjoyable) message, an instrumental (beneficial) message and a control condition on leisure walking among individuals high and low in Conscientiousness. Our results indicated that highly conscientious participants who read the affective message engaged in significantly more leisure walking post-intervention when compared to the instrumental condition, control condition and individuals low in Conscientiousness. Results suggest that affective beliefs are an influential source of motivation among highly conscientious individuals for the initiation of physical activity.
There is extensive evidence that personality traits are associated with health-related behaviours, but less evidence regarding the underlying mechanisms. In this study, we examined the relationships between personality and self-determination of exercise behaviour. Users of a sports centre completed personality scales (the NEO Five Factor Inventory supplemented with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Psychoticism scale) and exercise self-determination scales (Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire which measures extrinsic, introjected, identified and intrinsic forms of regulation). Analyses were restricted to 182 individuals in the maintenance stage of exercise participation. Partial correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships between each personality scale and the self-determination scales, controlling for other personality scales, gender and age. Neuroticism was associated with more introjected regulation, extraversion with more identified and intrinsic regulation, openness with less external regulation, conscientiousness with less external regulation and more intrinsic regulation, and psychoticism with more external regulation. Relating these findings to self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), it is speculated that extraverted individuals are able to feel self-determined because exercise can satisfy the need for relatedness, conscientious individuals because exercise can satisfy the need for competence. Furthermore, conscientious individuals may have greater wherewithal to advance along the continuum of behavioural regulation.
The health benefits of regular exercise and the low participation rates combine to create a strong rationale for research into the determinants of this important health behavior. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between personality and exercise behavior, motives, barriers and preferences. The five-factor model (FFM) of personality was selected to guide this investigation. Participants were 264 undergraduate students who completed a battery of self-administered questionnaires including the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (Godin & Shephard, 1985). Consistent with hypotheses, the results of the study indicated that: 1.(a) extraversion and conscientiousness were positively related whereas neuroticism was negatively related to exercise behavior,2.(b) each “Big Five” dimension correlated with theoretically expected exercise motives,3.(c) neuroticism and conscientiousness were the personality dimensions most consistently related to exercise barriers4.(d) all “Big Five” personality dimensions were related to some aspect of preferences for exercise context and structure.
It was concluded that the FFM may be a useful framework for understanding not only how much exercise people perform, but also their exercise motives, barriers, and preferences.
Both higher adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet and more physical activity have been independently associated with lower Alzheimer disease (AD) risk but their combined association has not been investigated.
To investigate the combined association of diet and physical activity with AD risk.
Prospective cohort study of 2 cohorts comprising 1880 community-dwelling elders without dementia living in New York, New York, with both diet and physical activity information available. Standardized neurological and neuropsychological measures were administered approximately every 1.5 years from 1992 through 2006. Adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet (scale of 0-9; trichotomized into low, middle, or high; and dichotomized into low or high) and physical activity (sum of weekly participation in various physical activities, weighted by the type of physical activity [light, moderate, vigorous]; trichotomized into no physical activity, some, or much; and dichotomized into low or high), separately and combined, were the main predictors in Cox models. Models were adjusted for cohort, age, sex, ethnicity, education, apolipoprotein E genotype, caloric intake, body mass index, smoking status, depression, leisure activities, a comorbidity index, and baseline Clinical Dementia Rating score.
Time to incident AD.
A total of 282 incident AD cases occurred during a mean (SD) of 5.4 (3.3) years of follow-up. When considered simultaneously, both Mediterranean-type diet adherence (compared with low diet score, hazard ratio [HR] for middle diet score was 0.98 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.72-1.33]; the HR for high diet score was 0.60 [95% CI, 0.42-0.87]; P = .008 for trend) and physical activity (compared with no physical activity, the HR for some physical activity was 0.75 [95% CI, 0.54-1.04]; the HR for much physical activity was 0.67 [95% CI, 0.47-0.95]; P = .03 for trend) were associated with lower AD risk. Compared with individuals neither adhering to the diet nor participating in physical activity (low diet score and no physical activity; absolute AD risk of 19%), those both adhering to the diet and participating in physical activity (high diet score and high physical activity) had a lower risk of AD (absolute risk, 12%; HR, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.44-0.96]; P = .03 for trend).
In this study, both higher Mediterranean-type diet adherence and higher physical activity were independently associated with reduced risk for AD.
The five-factor model of personality is a hierarchical organization of personality traits in terms of five basic dimensions: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. Research using both natural language adjectives and theoretically based personality questionnaires supports the comprehensiveness of the model and its applicability across observers and cultures. This article summarizes the history of the model and its supporting evidence; discusses conceptions of the nature of the factors; and outlines an agenda for theorizing about the origins and operation of the factors. We argue that the model should prove useful both for individual assessment and for the elucidation of a number of topics of interest to personality psychologists.
This multimethod research linked the Big Five personality dimensions to interpersonal conflicts. Agreeableness was the focus because this dimension is associated with motives to maintain positive interpersonal relations. Converging responses to both hypothetical conflicts and to diary records of actual daily interpersonal conflicts across a two-week period were assessed. Agreeableness was expected to moderate affective responses and tactical choices during conflicts. Patterns of daily conflict were related to self-reported reactions to hypothetical conflicts and to teacher-rated adjustment in adolescents. As predicted, Agreeableness was related to responsiveness to conflict. Agreeableness differences and use of destructive tactics in conflict were significantly related to evaluations of the individual's adjustment by knowledgeable raters. Among the Big Five dimensions, Agreeableness was most closely associated with processes and outcomes during interpersonal conflict.
Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable 643 diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy
Activity Series Working Group (2012). Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable
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diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy. Lancet (London, England),
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380(9838), 219-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61031-9
Physical activity and personality development
- Y Stephan
- A R Sutin
- A Terracciano
Stephan, Y., Sutin, A. R., & Terracciano, A. (2014). Physical activity and personality development