european college of sport science

17:15 - 18:45
Oral presentations
OP-PS02 Psychology 2
OP-PS02 Psychology 2
WHAT MATTERS FOR WELL-BEING IN ELDERLY: PHYSICAL FUNCTION OR PERCEIVED PHYSICAL HEALTH? PRELIMINARY
DATA FROM A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL
SOLBERG, P.A., KVAMME, N.H., HALVARI, H., OMMUNDSEN, Y.
NORWEGIAN SCHOOL OF SPORT SCIENCES
One important question in the exercise and well-being relationship concerns the role of physical fitness (McAuley & Rudolph, 1995).
Several studies report exercise to result in significant physiological improvements, but such changes do not always lead to improved
well-being (e.g., Blumenthal et al., 1989). According to Rejeski and Mihalko (2001), it may rather be changes in perceived physical health
that facilitate well-being effects of exercise in the elderly. Thus, the aim of the present study was to explore the relationships between
physical and psychological indices of health and well-being in a group of elderly.
The sample was drawn from community-dwelling elderly volunteers (N= 68, M = 74.3 yrs, 67.6% women). Measures included a) Functional
tests: Stair climb, gait speed, chair raise, 6 min walk test, timed up and go and functional upper body; b) Psychological measures
consisting of a) 5-item measure of Perceived physical health (PPH); b) Subjective well-being (SWB) comprised of the Positive and Negative
Affect Schedule (PANAS), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D); c) Eudaimonic
well-being was measured with the Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS). All psychological measures yielded acceptable reliability (α’s from .75 to
.87).
Perceived physical health was significantly correlated with four of the six functional tests (gait speed, chair raise, 6 min walk test, and
timed up and go). Physical function (a sum score of these four tests) correlated significantly with perceived physical health (r = .34, p