title: Daily physical activity and alcohol use across the adult lifespan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In contrast to proposals that physical activity (PA) can be a substitute for alcohol use, people who engage in greater overall PA generally consume more alcohol on average than less-active peers. Acknowledging that both PA and alcohol use vary considerably from day-to-day, this study evaluated whether established associations reflect daily behavioral coupling within-person, are an artifact of procedures that aggregate behavior over time, or both.
  
  
  METHODS
  A life span sample of 150 adults (aged 19-89 years) completed three 21-day measurement bursts of a daily diary study. At the end of each day, they reported on their PA and alcohol consumption. Data were analyzed in a negative binomial multilevel regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As expected, both behaviors exhibited limited between-person variation. After controlling for age, gender, and seasonal and social calendar influences, daily deviations in PA were significantly associated with daily total alcohol use. Once the within-person process linking PA and alcohol use was controlled, usual PA and total alcohol use were not associated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The established between-person association linking PA and alcohol use reflects the aggregation of a daily process that unfolds within-people over time. Further work is needed to identify mediators of this daily association and to evaluate causality, as well as to investigate these relations in high-risk samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Conroy
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development & Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Nilam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ram
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Aaron L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Pincus
authors.affiliation: The Methodology Center, The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Donna L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Coffman
authors.affiliation: Center for Healthy Aging, The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Amy E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Lorek
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Amanda L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rebar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Roche
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult