Düzel Sandra, Drewelies Johanna, Polk Sarah E, Misgeld Carola, Porst Johanna, Wolfarth Bernd, Kühn Simone, Brandmaier Andreas M, Wenger Elisabeth
Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Department of Psychology, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2022 Mar 11;16:825454. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.825454. eCollection 2022.
The beneficial effects of physical exercise on physical health and cognitive functioning have been repeatedly shown. However, evidence of its effect on psychosocial functioning in healthy adults is still scarce or inconclusive. One limitation of many studies examining this link is their reliance on correlational approaches or specific subpopulations, such as clinical populations. The present study investigated the effects of a physical exercise intervention on key factors of psychosocial functioning, specifically well-being, stress, loneliness, and future time perspective. We used data from healthy, previously sedentary older adults ( = 132) who participated in a 6-month at-home intervention, either engaging in aerobic exercise or as part of a control group who participated in foreign language-learning or reading of selected native-language literature. Before and after the intervention, comprehensive cardiovascular pulmonary testing and a psychosocial questionnaire were administered. The exercise group showed significantly increased fitness compared to the control group. Contrary to expectations, however, we did not find evidence for a beneficial effect of this fitness improvement on any of the four domains of psychosocial functioning we assessed. This may be due to pronounced stability of such psychological traits in older age, especially in older adults who show high levels of well-being initially. Alternatively, it may be that the well-documented beneficial effects of physical exercise on brain structure and function, as well as cognition differ markedly from beneficial effects on psychosocial functioning. While aerobic exercise may be the driving factor for the former, positive effects on the latter may only be invoked by other aspects of exercise, for example, experiences of mastery or a feeling of community.
体育锻炼对身体健康和认知功能的有益影响已得到反复证实。然而，其对健康成年人心理社会功能影响的证据仍然稀少或尚无定论。许多研究这一联系的研究存在的一个局限性是，它们依赖于相关方法或特定亚群体，如临床人群。本研究调查了体育锻炼干预对心理社会功能关键因素的影响，特别是幸福感、压力、孤独感和未来时间观。我们使用了来自健康的、以前久坐不动的老年人（n = 132）的数据，他们参与了为期6个月的居家干预，要么进行有氧运动，要么作为对照组的一部分参与外语学习或阅读选定的母语文学作品。在干预前后，进行了全面的心血管肺部测试和一份心理社会问卷。与对照组相比，运动组的体能显著提高。然而，与预期相反，我们没有发现这种体能改善对我们评估的心理社会功能的四个领域中的任何一个有有益影响的证据。这可能是由于这些心理特征在老年人中具有显著的稳定性，尤其是那些最初幸福感较高的老年人。或者，可能是体育锻炼对大脑结构和功能以及认知的有益影响与对心理社会功能的有益影响明显不同。虽然有氧运动可能是前者的驱动因素，但对后者的积极影响可能仅由运动的其他方面引发，例如，掌控感或社区感。
