The longitudinal relationship between levels of leisure‐time physical activity and positive and negative affect among older foreign‐born adults with mild cognitive impairment

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal impact of different levels of leisure‐time physical activity (LTPA) participation on positive and negative affect among older foreign‐born adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).MethodsThis study used 2012 to 2020 data from the Health and Retirement Study data (n = 1206) that was analyzed using repeated measured multivariate analysis of covariance.ResultsThe high‐level participation LTPA group reported higher positive affect and lower negative affect than the mid and low‐level participation groups. The mid‐level LTPA group also reported higher positive and lower negative affect than the low‐level LTPA group.ConclusionsThis study provides evidence that high levels of LTPA participation contribute to an increase in positive affect and a reduction of negative affect among older foreign‐born adults with MCI. The findings of this study will help fill the gap in research on the longitudinal relationship between levels of LTPA participation and positive and negative affect among older foreign‐born adults.