ArticleAmerican journal of epidemiology2024
Exercise to socialize? Bidirectional relationships between physical activity and loneliness in middle-aged and older American adults.
Article in American journal of epidemiology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Process evaluation with cost analysis of the Move for Life cluster randomised feasibility trial for inactive adults aged 50 years and older.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Loneliness and physical activity: Findings from an ecological momentary assessment and accelerometry study.Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- Associations between handgrip strength, motor tasks, and quality of life in older adults with osteoarthritis.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Predictors of Poor Post-discharge Exercise Adherence in Older Inpatients with Musculoskeletal Disorders.Annals of geriatric medicine and research · 2026Article
- Physical exercise and loneliness in higher education: a national study of Norwegian students.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- The impact of physical exercise on medical expenditure among middle-aged and older adults: digital literacy as a moderating variable.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Within-person reciprocal associations among physical activity, loneliness, and social anxiety in adolescence.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Can middle school students counteract academic burnout through physical exercise? A cross-sectional study from China.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Physical activity and loneliness interrelations with retirement status, health, and personality factors: a theory-based study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Adolescent loneliness as a predictor of adult obesity: a longitudinal analysis from the HUNT study, Norway.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Bidirectional Relationships Between Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Physical Inactivity in the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Cohort Study.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2024Article
- The relationship between urban residents' physical exercise attitudes and sports consumption demands: the mediating role of physical activity level.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Life Satisfaction and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors of Individuals According to Exercise Preferences of Outdoor and Indoor.Public health nursing (Boston, Mass.)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Physical inactivity and loneliness are both associated with health risks and can affect each other through various social and behavioral mechanisms. However, current evidence on this relationship is equivocal and mostly based on cross-sectional data. This longitudinal study aimed to determine whether current levels of physical activity (moderate and vigorous intensity) and loneliness are associated with future respective states of themselves and each other. We used data from waves 6-14 (2002-2018) of the Health and Retirement Study (n = 20 134) in a mixed-effects and random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. Analysis showed that current loneliness and physical activity were associated with each future respective state. Additionally, weekly participation in moderate-intensity, but not vigorous-intensity, physical activity was associated with a lower likelihood of becoming lonely in the future (relative risk [RR] = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.90-0.99). However, changes in physical activity were not associated with deviation from a person's typical level of loneliness (for vigorous intensity, mean deviation [MD] = 0.00; 95% CI: -0.04 to 0.03; for moderate-intensity, MD = 0.01; 95% CI: -0.03 to 0.04). Loneliness was not associated with moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity in subsequent waves. This suggests that while lower physical activity levels can be associated with future loneliness, changing levels of physical activity has little impact on loneliness at the individual level.
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