Resilience and Mental Health Among Regularly and Intermittently Active Older Adults: Results From a Four-Year Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate whether regularly active individuals have different levels of mental health and resilience compared to intermittently active individuals. METHODS: In this 4-year longitudinal study, 180 older people were included. General linear models were used to assess the level of physical activity, psychological resilience, and mental health among regularly and intermittently active older adults. RESULTS: Those who maintained regular physical activity were more resilient than those who did not. However, no differences were observed for mental health outcomes. Although those with higher levels of resilience had fewer mental health problems, there were no significant differences between the groups based on their level of physical activity. CONCLUSION: Differences in resilience levels favoring regularly active individuals were found. In both groups, resilience was inversely associated with mental health problems. These findings may help elucidate the underlying mechanisms in the relationship between physical activity and health outcomes.

Relationship Between Mental Health, Resilience, and Physical Activity in Older Adults: A 2-Year Longitudinal Study.

The aim of this study was to longitudinally investigate the association between resilience and mental health in older adults and to determine the influence of physical activity on this relationship. A total of 291 older adults were included in a 2-year follow-up study. Adjusted linear regression models evaluated the association between resilience at baseline and mental health after 2 years in sufficiently and insufficiently physically active older adults. A negative correlation was found between resilience at baseline and depression, anxiety, and stress after 2 years for the overall sample. This association changed after stratifying the group. Sufficiently physically active individuals made greater use of the resilience components "Self-Sufficiency" and "Perseverance," whereas insufficiently physically active individuals made greater use of "Meaning of Life" and "Existential Singularity." Physical activity can influence the relationship between resilience and mental health. These results can help guide the devising of more effective interventions for this age group.

Altruism, Volunteering and Cognitive Performance Among Older Adults: A 2-Year Longitudinal Study.

This study aims to investigate whether altruism and volunteering are associated differently with cognitive functioning in community-dwelling older adults. A 2-year longitudinal study of 291 Brazilian older adults was conducted. In the baseline analysis, altruism, but not volunteering, was associated with higher scores for the composite cognitive score, the Mini-Mental State Examination, the verbal fluency and the CERAD Recall. Concerning the longitudinal analyses, volunteering at baseline, but not altruism, was associated with verbal fluency and CERAD Word List Recall after 2 years of follow up. Same results were obtained while investigating changes in score. Altruism and volunteering were associated with cognitive tests, albeit in different ways. Volunteering, but not altruism, was associated with lower cognitive decline. However, altruism, but not volunteering, was associated with higher absolute score on these tests. These findings can further understanding of this new field of health research.

The Role of Physical Activity in the Association Between Resilience and Mental Health in Older Adults.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between resilience and mental health in older adults and how physical activity influences that relationship. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 312 older adults (179 active and 133 sedentary classified by IPAQ). Considering the whole sample, an inverse relationship was found for resilience (Wagnild-Young's Resilience Scale) with depression and stress (DASS-21). Among the sedentary, in spite of there not being an association between total resilience and mental health, there was an inverse relationship for the "meaning of life" component of the resilience and depression scale. For the active group, there was a relationship between total resilience and its components with depression and stress, but not for the "meaning of life" component of the resilience scale. Physical activity played an important role in the relationship between resilience and depression, showing that active and sedentary people use different components of resilience.

Envelhecimento e percepção corporal de idosos institucionalizados / Aging and body perception of institutionalized senior citizens

O estudo tem por objetivo verificar, nos discursos de idosos institucionalizados, quais aspectos consideram ao remeter à percepção e visão que têm de seus corpos. Utilizou-se de entrevista semiestruturada com dados sociodemográficos e uma questão sobre a percepção e visão de corpo; e a análise de conteúdo seguiu o preconizado por Lawrence Bardin. Constatou-se que 44,4%, dos nove idosos entrevistados, remetiam sua percepção de corpo positivamente. Já os discursos negativos (33,3%) evidenciaram uma forte relação com a presença de doenças. Apenas um idoso diferenciou seu discurso, associando-o a uma percepção de corpo puramente biológico. Considerando que a percepção de corpo das pessoas está permeada de significâncias adquiridas durante as experiências vividas, destacou-se que 44,4% da amostra mostraram a percepção de corpo associada a fatores estéticos. Através da análise da literatura e das entrevistas, foi possível notar que as percepções de corpo diferem significativamente, em especial nos idosos. Constatou-se uma percepção positiva de corpo, mas a pequena amostra não permitiu maiores generalizações.

Percepção de idosos sobre o papel do psicólogo em instituições de longa permanência / Elderly´s perception of the role of the psycohologist at homes for the aged

Este trabalho se propôs a descrever a percepção de idosos institucionalizados sobre o papel do profissional psicólogo junto à população abrigada das Instituições de Longa Permanência para Idosos (ILPI) da cidade de Juiz de Fora-MG. O universo da pesquisa abrangeu as instituições cuidadoras e cadastradas junto ao Conselho Municipal do Idoso da referida localidade. Quanto à metodologia, procedeu-se a estudo qualitativo exploratório utilizando a Análise de Conteúdo na perspectiva de Bardin como ferramenta para o tratamento dos dados. Os critérios de inclusão utilizados foram: 1) ser residente em ILPI; 2) ter 60 ou mais anos de idade; 3) aceitar participar; e 4) ser capaz de responder às perguntas formuladas. Constitui-se amostra por conveniência de 34 idosos que apresentaram as seguintes representações acerca do papel do psicólogo: relevância e pertinência de seu trabalho, não percebendo a presença de pontos negativos no trabalho deste profissional nas ILPIs. Identificou-se ainda que as áreas de atuação psicológica mais apontadas foram as relacionadas à prevenção, diagnóstico e tratamento dos residentes naqueles locais.