Active With Whom? Examining the Social Context of Physical Activity in Individuals After Stroke and Their Partners

Abstract

Engaging in regular moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) is crucial to reduce future health risk for individuals living with the effects of a stroke and their partners. Although numerous studies point to the importance of social factors in physical activity engagement, little is known about with whom individuals after stroke and their partners engage in physical activity with and whether different physical activity companions are uniquely associated with MVPA. Eighty-nine community-dwelling individuals after stroke (Mage = 68.64, SD = 10.44; 74% male) and 83 partners (Mage = 66.04, SD = 9.91; 24% male) completed 14 consecutive days of daily life assessments that included wearing physical activity monitors (accelerometers) and self-reporting physical activity companions (n = 1,961 days). Results show that average levels of MVPA were correlated between partners (r = 0.38), as were day-to-day MVPA fluctuations (r = 0.34). Importantly, for individuals after stroke, being active with their partner, but not with any other physical activity companion, was linked with elevated daily MVPA. In contrast, for partners of individuals after stroke, engaging in physical activity with a variety of different companions (partner, other family member, friend, colleague) was each associated with higher MVPA in daily life. For both individuals after stroke and their partners being active by oneself (without a companion) on a given day was not associated with elevated MVPA. Findings suggest that interventions that promote physical activity engagement should consider the role of meaningful others, with the partner being particularly key for individuals living with chronic health conditions.

Relationships Among Environmental Variables, Physical Capacity, Balance Self-Efficacy, and Real-World Walking Activity Post-Stroke

“…Past work suggests that other aspects of the social environment, such as the supportiveness 13 and comfort levels of a caregiver, 15 social support for exercise, 17 and social roles within the household, 15 influence activity levels in individuals with stroke that were not measured in this study. In addition, recent work suggests that the individual providing social support for physical activity (e.g., a partner, family member, friend, colleague, or other) may be important for individuals with stroke 29 which may not have been captured by solely measuring an individual's living situation. Thus, an individual's living situation likely only reflects one aspect of the social environment and future studies should consider measuring multiple aspects of the social environment to better understand its influence on real-world walking activity in stroke.…”

“…Based on previous work, the physical and social environments would have a direct effect on average steps/day (pathways a and d, respectively). 12-15,17-19,29 Past work suggesting that physical and social environmental factors influence balance self-efficacy (pathways b and e, respectively) 13-15,17,18 coupled with evidence demonstrating that Activities Specific Balance Confidence Scale is a strong predictor of walking activity (pathway c) 22,25,26 served as the theoretical basis for our hypothesis that Activities Specific Balance Confidence Scale would mediate the relationship between the social and physical environment and real-world walking activity. This hypothesis is also supported by past work demonstrating that the Activities Specific Balance Confidence Scale may serve as a mediator in understanding walking activity post stroke 26 and also by past work demonstrating that affective factors mediate the relationship between the social and physical environment and physical activity in the general population 30,31 and individuals with obesity.…”

Everyday Pain in Middle and Later Life: Associations with Daily and Momentary Present-Moment Awareness as One Key Facet of Mindfulness

“…This article presents a secondary analysis of data from published investigations (Lay, Pauly, Graf, Mahmood, & Hoppmann, 2020, Pauly et al, 2021; see the Online Supplement for details).…”

Daily Affect and Daily Prospective Memory in People after Stroke and Their Partners: The Moderating Role of Resting Heart Rate

“…Data were collected between March 2017 and December 2019 [30]. First, eligible participants completed a baseline session where participants completed physical health measurements (e.g., height, weight) and a questionnaire about participants’ demographics and health and psychological well-being.…”

“…This study examined associations between daily affect and daily prospective memory and the moderating role of RHR. We examined existing data from a larger study on health behaviors in community-dwelling couples post stroke [30]. Over 14 days, participants reported daily affect, completed event-based prospective memory tasks, and wore a Fitbit for monitoring RHR.…”