Physical Activity and Psychological Well-Being in Advanced Age: A Meta-Analysis of Intervention Studies Yael Netz Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute Meng-Jia Wu Michigan State University Betsy Jane Becker and Gershon Tenenbaum Florida State University A meta-analysis examined data from 36 studies linking physical activity to well-being in older adults without clinical disorders. The weighted mean-change effect size for treatment groups (d C .  0.24) was almost 3 times the mean for control groups (d C .  0.09). Aerobic training was most beneficial (d C .  0.29), and moderate intensity activity was the most beneficial activity level (d C .  0.34). Longer exercise duration was less beneficial for several types of well-being, though findings are inconclusive. Physical activity had the strongest effects on self-efficacy (d C .  0.38), and improvements in cardiovascular status, strength, and functional capacity were linked to well-being improvement overall. Social– cognitive theory is used to explain the effect of physical activity on well-being. Keywords: psychological well-being, physical activity, meta-analysis, intervention studies Accumulating evidence supports the popular belief that physical activity is associated with psychological health. The components of psychological health, however, are not yet clearly determined. Careful review of the literature presents a myriad of operational definitions of the terms psychological health and psychological well-being (Brown, 1992; Gauvin & Spence, 1996; McAuley & Rudolph, 1995). It is generally agreed that psychological well- being is a multifaceted phenomenon (Gauvin & Spence, 1996), par- ticularly in the aging population (McAuley & Rudolph, 1995; Rejesky & Mihalko, 2001; Spirduso & Cronin, 2001; Stewart & King, 1991). Our meta-analysis examined the effects of organized physical activity on the well-being of older adults without clinical disorders. On the basis of a conceptual framework proposed for evaluating well-being in older age (McAuley & Rudolph, 1995; Spirduso & Cronin, 2001; Stewart & King, 1991), we considered four general components: (a) emotional well-being (i.e., state and trait anxiety, stress, tension, state and trait depression, anger, confusion, energy, vigor, fatigue, positive affect, negative affect, and optimism), (b) self-perceptions (i.e., self-efficacy, self-worth, self-esteem, self- concept, body image, perceived physical fitness, sense of mastery, and locus of control), (c) bodily well-being (i.e., pain and percep- tion of physical symptoms), and (d) global perceptions such as life-satisfaction and overall well-being. The lack of experimental evidence for a causal link between physical activity and improved psychological well-being has been noted by most qualitative reviews studying the aging population (Brown, 1992; McAuley & Rudolph, 1995; O’Connor, Aench- bacher, & Dishman, 1993; Spirduso & Cronin, 2001). The authors of those reviews argued that although habitual exercise may im- prove psychological well-being, a strong sense of well-being may also be necessary to comply with a habitual and intensive exercise program. Therefore, in the current review only comparative or pretest–posttest treatment studies were included, whereas correla- tional studies, which examine relations rather than treatment ef- fects, were excluded. Most previous meta-analyses did not focus on older adults. Furthermore, rather than focusing on well-being as a multifaceted phenomenon, they focused on selected components of well-being, mostly on negative emotions and quite often in clinical popula- tions. Because clinical populations are not only different from populations without clinical disorders but also differ on each particular clinical status (Martinsen & Stephens, 1994), we did not include clinical populations in our meta-analysis that focused on well-being in a broader view. Two meta-analyses concentrated on anxiety in multiaged pop- ulations. Petruzzello, Landers, Hatfield, Kubitz, and Salazar (1991) indicated that acute and chronic physical activities reduced state anxiety, but their reported treatment-versus-comparison- group standardized-mean-difference effect size (d  ) was rather small (d   0.24). According to the same report, chronic physical activity has also been related to small reductions in trait anxiety (with a mean effect of 0.34), but this result was computed across both comparison and single-group studies. McDonald and Hodg- don’s (1991) meta-analytic results were comparable to those of Petruzzello et al. (1991), showing effect sizes of 0.28 for state anxiety and 0.25 for trait anxiety. However, McDonald and Hodg- don looked only at studies investigating aerobic fitness training. Yael Netz, School of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel; Meng-Jia Wu, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, College of Education, Michigan State University; Betsy Jane Becker and Gershon Tenenbaum, Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, College of Education, Florida State University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Yael Netz, School of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute 42902, Israel. E-mail: neyael@wincol.ac.il Psychology and Aging Copyright 2005 by the American Psychological Association 2005, Vol. 20, No. 2, 272–284 0882-7974/05/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0882-7974.20.2.272 272