Abstract

OLIVEIRA, Daniel et al. Depression, self-esteem and motivation of the elderly to practice physical exercises. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2019, vol.20, n.3, pp.803-812. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/19psd200319.

This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the indicators of depression, self-esteem and motivation factors for the physical exercise practice of physically active elderly people. Participants were 79 physically active elderly people of both sexes, users of the Third Age Gyms (TAG) in the city of Maringá, Paraná. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), short version, the Rosemberg Self-esteem Scale, the Exercise Motivations Inventory (EMI-2), and the Geriatric Depression Scale, short version, were applied. Data were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, "U" Mann-Whitney tests. Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman. A level of significance of p<0.05 was considered. The results indicated that women sought TAG more to prevent disease (p= 0.013) and to control stress (p= 0.030) than men. Older people less than 70 years of age practice exercises to be part of a new social context (p= 0.018), to the detriment of the elderly from the age of 70, however, they present a higher level of self-esteem (p= 0.013) of 70 years. The physically active elderly are more motivated to exercise to maintain their physical condition (p= 0.014) and competition (p= 0.018), in detriment to the irregularly active elderly, who are more motivated to practice by affiliation reason (p= 0.022). Factors such as gender, age range and level of physical activity may interfere with the motivation to practice physical activities, in addition to the fact that advancing age seems to interfere in the level of self-esteem of the elderly.

Keywords : Motor activity; aging; motivation; depression; behavior.

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