Fear of Falling Carries Over into Overprotection in Old Age: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis

Abstract

Fear of falling might result in overprotection by one's social environment. In turn, feeling dependent could increase fear of falling. However, the association between fear of falling and perceived overprotection and its temporal order is unknown. This longitudinal study explores this potential mutual longitudinal association. This study presents secondary analyses from a larger trial. We tested the association between fear of falling and perceived overprotection in a cross-lagged path model controlled for falls, health-related quality of life, age, gender, and trial condition. N = 310 participants (M = 70 years, range: 64-92) completed self-reports at Time 1, 7 (Time 2), and 11 weeks (Time 3) after baseline assessment. We found a positive association from fear of falling to perceived overprotection (β = .12, 95% CI[0.02, 0.21], p = .02; β = .10; [0.01, 0.18], p = .03). The reversed cross-lagged paths were not significant. Findings suggest higher fear of falling translates into perceived overprotection, which may in turn increase loss of independence in old age.

Keywords: fear of falling; loss of independence; older adults; overprotection; social support.

Figure 1.

The conceptual cross-lagged path model covers four auto-correlations (β_F1F2, β_F2F3, β_P1P2, and β_P2P3), three cross-sectional correlations (β_F1P1, β_F2P2, and β_F3P3), and four cross-lagged correlations (β_F1P2, β_F2P3, β_P1F2, and β_P2F3).

Figure 2.

The cross-lagged panel model in n = 310 participants, fear of falling: R² = .51 at time 2, R² = .56 at time 3, perceived overprotection: R² = .17 at time 2, R² = .36 at time 3.