Is Participation in Competitive Sport during Older Adulthood Associated with Greater Life Satisfaction?

Based on previous work in the area arguing that the benefits accompanying competitive sport surpass those gained from exercise and physical activity alone (Dionigi, Baker, & Horton, 2011;Gayman, Fraser-Thomas, Dionigi, Horton, & Baker, in press), the following study explored the hypothesis that participation in competitive sport during older adulthood would be associated with greater levels of life satisfaction when compared to moderately active and sedentary age-matched peers. Measures of life satisfaction were evaluated in Canadian masters athletes aged 50 years and above and compared to normative data obtained from the Canadian Community Health Survey cycle 4.1. Results indicated that masters athletes did not report greater levels of life satisfaction for any of the outcomes measured. Cumulatively, the results of this study challenge the position that competitive sport is a valuable tool for enhancing life satisfaction during older adulthood.