This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gitlin, L. N. Articles by Posner, J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Gitlin, L. N. Articles by Posner, J. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

In Search of Psychological Benefits

Exercise in Healthy Older Adults

Philadelphia Geriatric Center

M. Powell Lawton, PhD

Philadelphia Geriatric Center

Lisa A. Windsor-Landsberg, MEd

Philadelphia Geriatric Center

Morton H. Kleban, PhD

Philadelphia Geriatric Center

Laura P. Sands, PhD

Philadelphia Geriatric Center

Joel Posner, MD

Philadelphia Geriatric Center

This study assessed the short-term psychological effects of an exercise training program for 267 healthy elderly volunteers randomly assigned to either a bicycle group that trained three times a week for 4 months or an attention control group that met once a week during the 4-month period. A second aim was to identify predictors of favorable change in either physiological performance in stress-test parameters or in behavioral attributes at the conclusion of training. Psychological assessment procedures included indicators of basic mental health, perceived quality of life, and activity level. One-way repeated-measure multivariate analysis of variance tests revealed only one significant univariate interaction effect: The exercising group showed significantly greater improvement in an index tapping report of feeling better from pretest to posttest as compared to controls. The directions of change for all other measures were uniformly in favor of exercisers but did not approach statistical significance. Behavioral and psychological variables were also found to be irrelevant in predicting improvement in physiological performance at Time 2. These data suggest that exercise program effects on psychological and behavioral indicators were very modest for older adults with very high levels of functioning.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. N. Gitlin, L. Winter, M. P. Dennis, and W. W. Hauck Assessing Perceived Change in the Well-being of Family Caregivers: Psychometric Properties of the Perceived Change Index and Response Patterns. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, October 1, 2006; 21(5): 304 - 311. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. A. Blumenthal, M. A. Babyak, K. A. Moore, W. E. Craighead, S. Herman, P. Khatri, R. Waugh, M. A. Napolitano, L. M. Forman, M. Appelbaum, et al. Effects of Exercise Training on Older Patients With Major Depression Arch Intern Med, October 25, 1999; 159(19): 2349 - 2356. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Parkai[T, D. J. H. Deeg, R. J. Bosscher, and L. L. J. Launer Physical Activity and Self-Rated Health among 55- to 89-Year-Old Dutch People J Aging Health, August 1, 1998; 10(3): 311 - 326. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. F. Emery Effects of Age on Physiological and Psychological Functioning among COPD Patients in an Exercise Program J Aging Health, February 1, 1994; 6(1): 3 - 16. [Abstract] [PDF]