EXERCISE, AGING, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION

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A multidisciplinary investigation is proposed to examine the role played by aerobic exercise in enhancing the psychosocial and cognitive functioning of 200 aging adults (60-74 years). A randomized trial will compare effects of an aerobic exercise intervention and a stretching and toning control group engaged in activity for six months in supervised programs with a six month follow-up. It is expected that aerobic exercise program will substantially enhance the physical fitness post-intervention of these subjects and that changes in fitness will result in improved cognitive function (memory and attention) and enhanced psychosocial function (improved psychological well-being and self-efficacy). Whereas it is believed that the particular mechanism of importance in the exercise- cognition relationship is cardiovascular fitness, it is hypothesized that self-efficacy mediates the impact of fitness on psychological well-being. Finally, a true representation of psychological or mental health comprises adequate cognitive function and positive psychological well-being. It will therefore be a further purpose of this project to conduct exploratory analyses examining the relationship between cognitive and psychosocial responses at the end of the program and at follow-up. Both treatment groups are expected to demonstrate relatively low levels of functioning (physical, cognitive, and psychosocial) at baseline and that levels of functioning in the aerobic exercise group will increase markedly over the course of the program as compared to the stretching/toning group. Indeed, if both groups were to demonstrate similar increases in cognitive and psychosocial functioning but differ in degree of aerobic fitness gains (i.e., aerobic will make more marked improvements than the stretching/control group), this would be strong evidence to suggest that fitness gains are not necessary for psychological health improvements, a significant contribution in itself. This investigation attempts to overcome many of the methodological and conceptual problems that make the extant literature in this area equivocal at best. First, the proposed project is theoretically grounded rather than descriptive. Second, the sedentary aging population targeted represents a segment of the population which stand to gain more from exercise than those populations normally studied. Third, multi-method assessment across projects of exercise behavior and physiological function (exercise logs, long-term follow-up, cardiorespiratory function, heart rate), and psychological functioning (memory, attention, efficacy, affect) will be employed, allowing us to comprehensively measure the variables of interest and to determine treatment effects on these constructs, as well as possible interrelations among them. Finally, we include equal numbers of males and females, an appropriate proportion of minorities to be representative of the general older population in the region, and the exercise intervention is to be compared to a non-aerobic control group. The proposed investigation represents a prospective intervention study that is theoretically grounded and has as its objective a comprehensive approach to improving the health and well-being of older Americans.