ABSTRACT

Narrative reviews indicate psychological and social benefits of sport participation for the ageing population. However, no quantitative synthesis of quantitative studies on this topic has been conducted yet. We evaluated the magnitude and heterogeneity of the effects of sport participation on psychosocial outcomes for middle-aged and older adults (>35 years). Ten databases were searched in July 2020. Quantitative studies (k = 25) of middle-aged and older adults, measuring at least one psychosocial outcome of sport participation were included. Multilevel meta-analysis showed that the association between sport participation and psychosocial outcomes was small, yet significant. Moderation analyses revealed that the pooled effect differed according to outcome type; small to moderate associations were observed for social, positive psychological, perceived physical, and cognitive outcomes, but not for negative psychological outcomes. Risk of bias, assessed using the QualSyst tool, indicated low quality of evidence. Our findings suggest that sport participation is associated with multiple psychosocial benefits for middle-aged and older adults that appear invariant across participant-related and sport-related characteristics. We found no evidence of publication bias, but studies were underpowered and rated as low quality. Our review provides quantitative evidence for the psychosocial benefits of sport participation for adults, complementing existing qualitative research on this topic.

摘要

叙事评论表明参与体育运动对老龄化人口的心理和社会效益。然而，尚未对该主题进行定量研究的定量综合。我们评估了体育参与对中老年人（> 35 岁）心理社会结果影响的程度和异质性。2020 年 7 月检索了 10 个数据库。 定量研究（k = 25) 的中老年人，测量至少一项运动参与的心理社会结果。多层次荟萃分析表明，运动参与与社会心理结果之间的关联很小，但意义重大。适度分析表明，汇总效应因结果类型而异；观察到社会、积极心理、感知的身体和认知结果有小到中等的关联，但没有观察到消极的心理结果。使用 QualSyst 工具评估的偏倚风险表明证据质量低。我们的研究结果表明，体育参与与中老年人的多种心理社会益处相关，这些益处在参与者相关和运动相关的特征中似乎是不变的。我们没有发现发表偏倚的证据，但研究动力不足，被评为低质量。我们的评论为成人参与体育活动的社会心理益处提供了定量证据，补充了有关该主题的现有定性研究。