ArticlePsychology & health2025
Purpose in life and accelerometer-measured physical activity among older adults.
Article in Psychology & health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Purpose in life and mortality: A meta-analysis of the published literature and individual-participant data of 488,765 participants followed for up to 32 years.Psychological medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Purpose in life and depressive symptoms: An individual-participant meta-analysis of >500,000 participants across six world regions.Journal of affective disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Purpose in life and c-reactive protein: An individual-participant meta-analysis of >50,000 adults.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Purpose in life and lung function: an individual-participant meta-analysis of six cohort studies.Respiratory research · 2025Pooled it
- Purpose in life and concurrent and incident fatigue.Psychology, health & medicine · 2026Article
- Purpose in life and blood-based biomarkers of brain health.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Momentary associations between purpose in life and social connection from a micro-longitudinal study of everyday life.Acta psychologica · 2026Article
- Momentary and lagged associations between purpose in life and pain intensity in daily life.Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- The association between health-related quality of life and the meaning of life in community-dwelling older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- The longitudinal relation between purpose in life and accelerometer-measured physical activity.Mental health and physical activity · 2026Article
- Daily Activities and Purpose in Life.International journal of wellbeing · 2026Article
- Self-worth systems in aging societies: a narrative review and conceptual framework from self-esteem to healthy longevity.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Purpose in life and coping strategies: Main associations and moderation by concurrent distress.PloS one · 2026Article
- Person, temporal, and contextual predictors of momentary purpose in everyday life.Personality and individual differences · 2025Article
- Habitual physical activity is related to more creative activities and achievements.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Momentary Associations Between Physical Activity, Affect, and Purpose in Life.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2024Article
- Data Analytics in Physical Activity Studies With Accelerometers: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Purpose in life and markers of immunity and inflammation: Testing pathways of episodic memory.Journal of psychosomatic research · 2023Article
- Purpose and meaning in life and the trajectory of episodic memory in eight longitudinal samples.Journal of Alzheimer's disease reportsArticle
- Purpose in Life and Risk of Falls: A Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional and Prospective Associations.Gerontology & geriatric medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivePurpose in life is associated with engagement in physical activity and better cognitive health. This study examines the association between purpose in life and patterns of physical activity measured with an accelerometer and whether these patterns mediate the association between purpose and episodic memory among older adults. METHODS AND MEASURES: This research is a secondary analysis of data from the accelerometry sub-study of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Participants (
resultsPurpose in life was associated with healthier patterns of physical activity, including higher total activity counts (
conclusionPurpose in life is associated with healthier patterns of physical activity measured through accelerometry among older adults and such patterns may be one factor in the pathway from purpose to healthier episodic memory.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.