Perceived Neighborhood Environment Associated With Older Adults’ Walking and Positive Affect: Results From the Health and Retirement Study

Abstract

The current study examined how a perceived neighborhood environment was associated with older adults’ walking activity and the experience of positive affect. Study sample comprised 10,700 older adults, aged 65+, sampled from the Health and Retirement Study 2014–2015 in the United States. Results indicated that neighborhood social cohesion was significantly predicting older adults’ walking and positive affect. It was also revealed that walking engagement significantly contributed to the measure of positive affect. However, perceived neighborhood physical disorder did not account for additional variance in walking and positive affect. Final structural model involved three latent factors—neighborhood social cohesion, walking, and positive affect—and the goodness-of-fit indices of the model indicated an acceptable fit to the sample data. Public health and physical activity intervention in the context of neighborhood environment should facilitate social integration and informal social support that the neighborhood creates.