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Psychological and social outcomes of sport participation for older adults: a systematic review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

Amy Chan Hyung Kim Open the ORCID record for Amy Chan Hyung Kim [Opens in a new window] ,
So Hyun Park ,
Sanghoon Kim  and
Ashlee Fontes-Comber
Amy Chan Hyung Kim*
Affiliation:
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
So Hyun Park
Affiliation:
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Sanghoon Kim
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
Ashlee Fontes-Comber
Affiliation:
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: kamy@fsu.edu
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Abstract

Sport participation is well known to promote health outcomes for children and adolescents. Nevertheless, there is insufficient evidence about the psychological and social outcomes of sport participation for older adults. This article provides the results of a systematic review of the psychological and social outcomes of sport participation for older adults. A systematic review of seven electronic databases was conducted and a total of 21 studies published that attended to psychological and/or social health benefits from sport participation of older adults (50 years old and over) were included. The outcomes of older adults’ sport participation included life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, stress, mood state, hedonistic values, socialisation, competition, and personal psychological outcomes such as personal empowerment, self-confidence, self-esteem and resistance to the negative view of ageing. Future studies are needed to conceptualise and operationalise the different levels of involvement of sport participation.

Keywords

sport participationolder adultssystematic reviewpsychological outcomessocial outcomespsycho-social outcomes
Type
Review Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 40 , Issue 7 , July 2020 , pp. 1529 - 1549
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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