Attributional Retraining and Physical Rehabilitation in Later Life: Intervention Effects on Motivation, Mobility, and Well-Being

Abstract

Aims: To pilot test a motivational intervention to improve rehabilitation outcomes for very old adults. Methods: Fifty-three adults (80+ years) were recruited from four Geriatric Day Hospitals for a two-phase pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of an “attributional retraining” (AR) intervention encouraging personally controllable attributions for loss of function (e.g., effort invested in exercise protocols) and discouraging maladaptive attributions (e.g., “old age”). Results: Significant treatment effects controlling for age, gender, baseline levels, and functional status showed AR participants to report more personally controllable attributions for exercise performance and greater perceived control over their future functional ability. Intervention participants further reported higher levels of exercise motivation, life satisfaction, as well as functional status relative to controls. Conclusions: This study provides encouraging preliminary findings in support of single-administration motivational interventions for very old adults to improve rehabilitation-related cognitions, exercise motivation, and functional ability in later life.

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