More positive and more active: Effects of daily intergenerational engagement on emotion and physical activity

Intergenerational engagement-here referring to time spent with younger family members-can promote health and happiness. Across adulthood, and particularly in later life, intergenerational engagement represents a potentially meaningful form of social involvement. Using intensive longitudinal methods, we investigated how intergenerational engagement is associated with daily emotional experience and physical activity.

In this study, 265 participants aged 23-92 completed a 9-day daily diary protocol assessing their intergenerational engagement and emotional experiences; objective physical activity during this period was assessed via tracking steps taken and sedentary minutes.

Multilevel models revealed significant within-person associations between intergenerational engagement and both emotional experience and physical activity. On days older adult participants spent more time with younger family members, they reported greater high-arousal positive emotion (happiness, enthusiasm, excitement) during the day. Across the age span of the sample, on days participants spent more time with younger family members, they reported greater low-arousal positive emotion (contentment, relaxation, calm) before bed. Finally, both objective metrics revealed greater physical activity on days with greater intergenerational engagement, whereas other social engagement was unassociated with steps taken or sedentary minutes.

These findings highlight intergenerational engagement as a meaningful daily-life context for both positive emotional experiences and physical activity. For older adults in particular, intergenerational engagement may represent a naturally occurring pathway through which emotionally meaningful social ties support both emotional well-being and opportunities for everyday movement.