Unravelling the relation between well-being and mobility in later life: an ecological momentary assessment approach

• Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) is suitable to study mobility and well-being • Intra-individual variation in mobility and well-being exceeds inter-individual variation • Older adults who are more mobile report higher levels of well-being • Mobility is of special benefit to older adults with the lowest levels of well-being • Intra-individual variation in the relation between mobility and well-being is large Mobility in later life is important for maintaining independence, autonomy, self-reliance and social engagement. Although reduced mobility and engagement in everyday activities are often associated with lower well-being, this relationship is not uncontested. The aim of this article is to test the relation between older adults' mobility and well-being throughout the day, assessing potential mediating effects and individual-level variation. We use an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) approach, and analysed data collected at three moments of the day, over the course of one week from 39 older adults in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Given the hierarchical nature of the data, we apply Multilevel Analysis (MLA) to examine the directionality and robustness of the relationship between mobility and well-being. Our results show that variation in mobility and well-being within individuals is larger than between individuals. Furthermore, we found a positive relationship between mobility and well-being, reinforcing previous findings that mobility and well-being in later life are associated. Mobility seems to be of particular benefit to older adults with the lowest levels of well-being. Finally, we found that the within-individual variation in the relationship between mobility and well-being is large. In conclusion, our study contributes to ongoing debates in transport justice, social inclusion, and ageing policy around fostering healthier, more equitable ageing populations.