Gerontology

The purpose of this study was to measure a person's propensity for falling in old age based on their lifetime mode of exercise. One hundred independently living older adults were separated into three groups, (1) lifetime start and stop exercisers, SAS, (i.e., basketball, racquet sport players), N = 27; (2) lifetime dynamic exercisers, DYN, (i.e., walkers, runners), N = 48; and (3) a control, C, (inactive), N = 25. Two trials of a timed "Up and Go" test (Podsiadlo & Richardson, 1991) were performed with results ranging from SAS, 5.01 sec +/- 1.16 sec; DYN, 7.04 sec +/- 1.92 sec; and C, 9.95 sec +/- 4.68 sec, mean +/- SD, indicating that lifetime start and stop activities significantly lowers a person's propensity for falling more than dynamic exercise or inactivity.

The purpose of the present study was to explore several questions about the relationship between well-being and social interaction in a sample of older adults. The primary question involved the relationship between three components of well-being--life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect--and quality and quantity of social interaction. It was found that social interaction variables correlated differently with affective and cognitive components of well-being, with quality of social interaction being associated with higher life satisfaction, and social quantity of interaction being associated with higher positive affect. These relationships were stronger for interactions with friends than for interactions with family members. Quality of social interaction with spouse was also related to well-being.