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Customary Physical Activity, Psychological Well-being and Successful Ageing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Kevin Morgan ,
Helen Dalleosso ,
E. Joan Bassey ,
Shan Ebrahim ,
P. H. Fentem  and
T. H. D. Aire
T. H. D. Aire
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care of the Elderly, and Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Nottingham Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK
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Abstract

Profiles of customary physical activity (CPA) and psychological wellbeing were obtained from a random community sample of 1,042 individuals aged 65 years and over. Activities were assessed with regard to their estimated minimum energy cost and/or their assumed contribution to functional capacity. The structure of CPA, and associations between activity levels, morale and mental health were then investigated. Women and men showed clear differences in the organisation of their activity patterns, and these differences were reflected in activity–affect relationships. For men, factor scores derived from the first principal component of CPA emerged as significant, though modest, predictors of well-being in regression and discriminant analyses. For women, however, activity factor scores failed significantly to predict levels of morale or mental health when medical and demographic factors were controlled. The results indicate that, among the present cohort of retired and elderly people, relationships between customary physical activity levels and psychological well-being are weak, indirect and gender-specific.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 1991 , pp. 399 - 415
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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