The associations of later-life travel with mental health depended on travel motivation: exploration-oriented travel was prospectively associated with lower anxiety (partly mediated by psychological capital), whereas nostalgia-oriented travel was prospectively associated with higher meaning in life (partly mediated by self-continuity).
Key Findings
Results
Mixed-active travel (combining both nostalgia and exploration motivations) was most strongly associated with lower anxiety and higher meaning in life at follow-up.
Mixed-active travel was associated with lower anxiety (β = -1.22, 95% CI: -1.55 to -0.89)
Mixed-active travel was associated with higher meaning in life (β = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.81)
Mixed-active travelers showed the strongest associations of all four travel motivation classes
Study included 5482 older adults from southern China classified into four latent classes: nostalgia-dominant, exploration-dominant, mixed-active, and inactive
Results
Exploration-dominant travel was significantly associated with lower follow-up anxiety symptoms, with psychological capital partly mediating this association.
Exploration-dominant travel was associated with lower anxiety (β = -0.92, 95% CI: -1.24 to -0.60)
Psychological capital statistically mediated 33.7% of the association between exploration-dominant travel and lower anxiety
Structural equation modeling was used to test mediation pathways
Because baseline anxiety was not assessed, the outcome model estimates follow-up levels rather than within-person change
Results
Nostalgia-dominant travel was significantly associated with higher follow-up sense of meaning in life, with self-continuity partly mediating this association.
Nostalgia-dominant travel was associated with higher meaning in life at follow-up (β = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.49)
Self-continuity was identified as a partial statistical mediator of the nostalgia-travel and meaning-in-life association
The mediation proportion for self-continuity was not explicitly stated in the abstract but was described as partial
Because baseline meaning in life was not assessed, the outcome model estimates follow-up levels rather than within-person change
Results
The association between active travel and lower anxiety was strongest among older adults with low social support.
Subgroup analysis revealed a moderation effect of social support level on the travel-anxiety association
Older adults with low social support showed the strongest benefit from active travel in terms of reduced anxiety
This finding suggests travel may serve a compensatory social function for those with limited social networks
Linear regression and subgroup analysis were both used to examine this relationship
Results
A combined model incorporating travel type and psychosocial factors showed moderate predictive performance for subsequent clinically significant anxiety.
The predictive model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.78 for predicting clinically significant anxiety
The model combined travel motivation type with psychosocial factors
An AUC of 0.78 indicates moderate-to-good discriminative ability
Predictive analysis was one of four analytic approaches used alongside linear regression, structural equation modeling, and subgroup analysis
Methods
Latent class analysis identified four distinct travel motivation profiles among older adults: nostalgia-dominant, exploration-dominant, mixed-active, and inactive.
Participants were classified based on baseline travel motivation using latent class analysis
The four classes reflect qualitatively different patterns of travel engagement and motivation
Sample consisted of 5482 older adults from southern China
Classification was based on baseline survey data, with anxiety and meaning in life assessed at follow-up
Discussion
The study design precludes causal interpretation, as baseline outcome measures were not collected and findings reflect associations with follow-up levels rather than within-person change.
Baseline anxiety and meaning in life were not assessed, so models estimate follow-up levels rather than change scores
The authors explicitly state: 'these findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects'
The study used a prospective cohort design but lacked a pre-travel baseline for the psychological outcomes
Observational design limits ability to rule out confounding by unmeasured variables
What This Means
This research suggests that not all leisure travel benefits older adults' mental health in the same way — the motivation behind travel matters. Among 5,482 older adults in southern China, researchers found that those who traveled primarily to explore new places were more likely to report lower anxiety at follow-up, while those who traveled primarily for nostalgia (revisiting meaningful places or memories) were more likely to report a stronger sense of meaning in life. Those who combined both motivations showed the strongest associations with both better outcomes. The study also found that older adults with fewer social connections appeared to benefit most from active travel in terms of reduced anxiety, suggesting travel may partly compensate for limited social support.
The researchers identified possible psychological pathways explaining these links. For exploration-oriented travelers, a psychological resource called 'psychological capital' — which encompasses confidence, optimism, resilience, and hope — statistically explained about one-third of the link between exploratory travel and lower anxiety. For nostalgia-oriented travelers, a sense of 'self-continuity' (feeling connected to one's past self and life story) helped explain the link to greater meaning in life. When travel type was combined with psychosocial factors in a predictive model, it could identify older adults at risk for clinically significant anxiety with moderate accuracy (AUC = 0.78).
This research suggests that encouraging older adults to travel — and considering what type of travel suits their psychological needs — could be relevant to mental health promotion in later life. However, because the study did not measure anxiety or meaning in life before travel, and relied on an observational design, the findings reflect associations rather than proven cause-and-effect relationships. Unmeasured factors could explain the links, and future experimental or longitudinal studies with baseline measures would be needed to confirm these patterns.
Li R, Zhao N. (2026). The differential associations of reminiscence and exploratory travel with late-life psychological well-being: A prospective cohort study.. Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000051140