Abstract
To date, the effect of both fixed and time-varying individual, social, psychological, environmental, and behavioral characteristics on temporal growth trends in physical activity (PA) among younger individuals remains an under-studied topic. In this paper, we address this gap in previous work by examining how temporal growth trends in PA respond to changing social, environmental, and behavioral characteristics using a large sample of college students (N = 692) who participated in the NetHealth project at the University of Notre Dame and from which fine-grained longitudinal data on physical activity and social interaction were collected unobtrusively via the use of wearables for 637 days (August 16, 2015 to May 13, 2017). These data are augmented by periodic survey data on fixed sociodemographic and psychological variables. We estimate latent growth-curve models for daily activity status, steps, active minutes, and activity calories. We find evidence of both a generalized friendship paradox and a peer effect for PA, with the average PA level of study participants' contacts being on average larger than their own, and with this average level exerting a statistically significant effect on individual PA levels. Notably, there was limited evidence of temporal growth in PA across the 637 days of observation with null temporal effects for three out of the four PA indicators, except for daily steps taken. Finally, we find that social, psychological, and behavioral factors (e.g., large network size, high extroversion levels, and more courses taken) are systematically associated with higher PA levels in this sample. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of social, environmental, and behavioral factors (such as peer networks and daily sociability) in modulating the dynamics of PA levels among college students.
Highlights
Physical activity (PA) is one of the most consequential behavioral factors at the individual level, having a range of pervasive and systematic effects on a variety of relevant outcomes throughout the life-course
Using Fitbit data to examine factors that affect daily activity levels of college students levels of PA increasing in tandem with the average PA levels of their daily contacts. We find that this peer-influence effect is stronger for male participants than for female participants in this sample, consistent with previous work showing that college-age men tend to spend more time together in the same physical locations and settings [59], and consistent with previous research showing both differential sensitivity by gender of the effect of other people’s physical activity on one own’s physical activity, with men being much more likely to be influenced by other men [34]
This study contributes to the interdisciplinary study of the determinants of PA by using fine-grained data aggregated at the daily level
Summary
Physical activity (PA) is one of the most consequential behavioral factors at the individual level, having a range of pervasive and systematic effects on a variety of relevant outcomes throughout the life-course. Previous work shows that high levels of PA are systematically associated with lower morbidity and mortality rates, with less physically active individuals being more likely to die at younger ages than those who are more active [1].
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