STRATEGIES USED BY OLDER ADULTS TO COPE WITH ACUTE NEGATIVE EXERCISE THOUGHTS AND RELATED COPING SELF-EFFICACY

Abstract

Acute thoughts occur on a day-to-day basis when one considers whether to exercise as planned. Acute negative thoughts hinder, and acute positive thoughts facilitate, one's decision to exercise as planned (Gyrurcsik & Brawley, in press). Researchers have found that healthy young adults exert cognitive and/or behavioral strategies to cope with negative thoughts. Further, confidence in their abilities to use these strategies (i.e., coping self-efficacy) is predictive of social cognitions important for exercise behavior (e.g., decisional struggle, exercise intention). To date, no research has examined coping strategies and self-efficacy in an older adult population. The purpose of the study was to examine the strategies used by older adults to cope with negative thoughts and whether related coping-self-efficacy was predictive of decisional struggle and exercise intention. Participants were 117 older adults (Mage = 72.08 years). Fifty-nine were females and 58 were males. All participants were regularly exercising at the time of data collection. Data on acute thoughts, coping strategies, coping self-efficacy, decisional struggle, and exercise intention were collected after a designated exercise session. Results indicated that after having acute negative thoughts, older adults used cognitive and behavioral strategies to cope that were similar to younger adults (e.g., scheduling strategies). Older adults also used coping strategies not previously identified as being salient in younger adults (e.g., finding another place to exercise). Regression analyses indicated that coping self-efficacy was predictive of (a) decisional struggle (R2 adjusted = .26, p < .0001) and (b) exercise intention (R2 adjusted = .34, p < .0001). Findings provide preliminary evidence of the type of strategies used by older adults to cope with acute negative thoughts and that coping self-efficacy may be influential of exercise-related cognitions. Future research should examine the influence of coping self-efficacy on exercise intention and adherence over time in older adults.