title: Daily physical activity enhances resilient resources for symptom management in middle-aged women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to evaluate the direct and indirect associations between physical activity and menopausal symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-dwelling middle-aged women (N = 103; age range 40-60 years) completed daily Internet surveys at the end of the day and wore an accelerometer for the objective assessment of physical activity for 21-days. 1-1-1 multilevel mediation models were estimated to test whether resilient resources (i.e., positive affect and coping efficacy) mediated the association between physical activity and symptom burden at the between- and within-person level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analyses demonstrated physical activity had an indirect effect (-0.16) on symptom burden through the enhancement of positive affect at the within-person level (p < .05; 95% confidence interval [CI] based on 20,000 Monte Carlo replications [-0.25, -0.08]). In models that tested coping efficacy as the mediator, it was found that the indirect effect of physical activity on symptom burden at the within-person level was -0.08 (p < .05; 95% CI based on 20,000 Monte Carlo replications [-0.14, -0.03]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These effects were nonsignificant at the between-person level, suggesting one route in which physical activity may help a woman to cope with her symptoms is through the enhancement of positive affect and coping efficacy on a day-to-day basis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Moé
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kishida
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Steriani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Elavsky
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009043:Motor Activity; D055500:Resilience, Psychological