Abstract

The aim of the study was to understand the acute and chronic effects of body expression modules on the psychological and subjective well-being in a group of elderly women. The study involved 12 women with an average age of 74,33 ± 7,15 years old in the experimental group and 24 women with an average age of 71,08 ± 6,28 years old in the control group.

Methods:  women participated in seven body expression modules. To assess the subjective well-being the Positive Affects and Negative Affects Scale and the Ryff Scale to determine psychological well-being were applied. The physical activity habits were also evaluated through a self-elaboration questionnaire. Besides, data triangulation was used for qualitative evaluation, relating data collected from field notes, during interviews and from video-recordings of all sessions. Results: The results showed a statistically significant acute decrease in negative affections (F=5,057; p=,043) attributable to treatment, however, there was no statistically significant change in positive affects, neither psychological well-being (all p values>0,05). The participants perceived a sense of well-being after the corporal expression modules practice.

Keywords: Body language; theater; therapy; well-being; aging