Social Group Memberships and Satisfaction With Social Relationships as Predictors of Changes in 24-Hour Movement Behaviors During the Retirement Transition

BACKGROUND: Social factors have been shown to be important for physical activity in older adults. The purpose of the present study was to explore the association between (1) social group memberships and satisfaction with social relationships and (2) changes in 24-hour movement behaviors during the retirement transition in adults in Flanders, Belgium. METHODS: All variables were measured at 4 time points spread from preretirement until 1 year after retirement. The 24-hour movement behaviors were assessed with a wrist-worn accelerometer. As an exploratory analysis, cross-sectional correlations between each behavior and the social factors were examined. In the main analysis, longitudinal compositional data analysis was applied in linear mixed models to test whether social group memberships and/or satisfaction with social relationships were predictors for changes in 24-hour movement behaviors. Additionally, changes in intensity gradient and average acceleration were examined since these are cut-point free estimates which are easily comparable across studies. RESULTS: More social group memberships and more satisfaction with social relationships were cross-sectionally associated with more physical activity and sleep and less sedentary behavior at preretirement and at 12-month postretirement. However, there were no longitudinal associations. CONCLUSION: There might be an association between social factors and 24-hour movement behaviors preretirement and after 1 year in retirement.