https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317705979 Journal of Health Psychology 2019, Vol. 24(13) 1850–1862 © The Author(s) 2017 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1359105317705979 journals.sagepub.com/home/hpq Introduction Being physical active on a regular basis reduces the risk of a number of lifestyle-related diseases such as coronary heart disease and type 2 diabe- tes, is related to a lower risk of injuries and hos- pitalisation due to falling, and is associated with increased psychological well-being as well as longevity – not only in younger but also in older adults (Bauman et al., 2016). Accordingly, if asked ‘to what extent do you pay attention to adequate physical activity’, around 45 per cent of older adults between the age of 60 and 79 years answered ‘strong’ or ‘very strong’ in a nationwide, representative health survey in Germany (Krug et al., 2013). In contrast, only around 16 per cent of older adults reach the rec- ommended 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week (Krug et al., 2013). The lack of compliance with physical activity recommenda- tions – especially in older adults – is well docu- mented in many developed countries: In Canada, 30 per cent of adults aged 65 years or above self- report to meet recommended activity levels Perceived somatic and affective barriers for self-efficacy and physical activity Lisa M Warner 1 , Julia K Wolff 2 , Svenja M Spuling 2 and Susanne Wurm 3 Abstract According to Bandura’s social-cognitive theory, perceptions of somatic and affective barriers are sources of self-efficacy. This longitudinal study compares general indicators of health barriers with measures of perceived somatic and affective barriers to predict self-efficacy and accelerometer-assessed physical activity in a subsample of n = 153 (selected at random from N = 310) community-dwelling German older adults. Perceived somatic and affective barriers longitudinally predicted physical activity mediated by self-efficacy, whereas general health barriers did not. Perceived health barriers to physical activity might be more important than more objective health barriers for older adults’ physical activity levels. Keywords accelerometer, perceived barriers, social-cognitive theory, somatic and affective states, sources of self- efficacy, subjective health 1 Freie Universität Berlin, Germany 2 German Centre of Gerontology, Germany 3 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany Corresponding author: Lisa M Warner, Division of Health Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany. Email: lisa.warner@fu-berlin.de 705979HPQ 0 0 10.1177/1359105317705979Journal of Health PsychologyWarner et al. research-article 2017 Article