No social distancing from exercise!

Physical activity offers well-documented benefits for older adults; however, this population often does not engage in sufficient levels of activity, a situation that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Developmental and Educational Psychology Group (Denis Gerstorf) investigated the role of social partners in their everyday activity levels.  139 Canadian older adults participated in a daily diary study, reporting their activity and with whom they were active. The results showed less activity alone and more with their chosen close partner compared to other social contacts. These findings underscore the importance of social partners in facilitating physical activity for older adults, especially during stressful times. Find out more about this phenomenon in their Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice Article!

Abstract

Despite the well-known benefits of physical activity, older adults do not engage in sufficient amounts; this became worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project analyzes the role of social partners for everyday physical activity, specifically, with whom older adults are physically active and whether engaging in physical activity with a close social tie is associated with more physical activity than when alone or with other members of their social network. One hundred thirty-nine Canadian older adults (M_age = 71.09 years, SD_age = 5.38; female: 53%, ethnicity: 88% White) participated in a daily diary study on social support for everyday health behaviors with a study partner (a close tie of their choice). Participants provided background information and completed up to 10 consecutive evening questionnaires reporting their daily minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, daily steps, and who they were active with. Results show that participants reported less physical activity when engaging in it alone and reported more when being active with their study partner than with other social network members or alone. This was the case across both modalities (minutes and steps). When zooming in on who the study partner was (romantic partner, friend, or other type of close social tie), being active with a romantic partner and friend was positively associated with more physical activity. When comparing average levels of physical activity across study partner categories, friends had the highest average. However, when looking at frequency of occurrence, physical activity with a romantic partner occurred most often. Findings underscore the importance of recognizing the potential of social partners to facilitate physical activity in everyday life (during times of chronic stress). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)