The Effect of yoga on Self-Efficacy and self-esteem and the risk of falling among Elderly People in the city of Karaj

The present study aimed to determine the effect of yoga on self-efficacy and self-esteem and risk of falling in the elderly in Karaj. In order to examine and test research hypotheses, a sample of 60 elders in Karaj were randomly selected and divided into two experimental and control groups. The elderly in the experimental group attended 16 sessions of yoga training under the supervision of an expert trainer. In order to measure the variables of the study, Sherer and Adams’s questionnaire (1983) and Cooper Smith’s Self Esteem Inventory (SEI) were used. To assess the risk of falling, the efficacy inventory- International form (FES-I) was used. After collecting data, to analyze the hypotheses, two-factor ANOVA (2 × 2) at 0.05 level was used with the help of the software SPSS version 20. The results show that the effect of yoga on self-efficacy of men and women is the same (F (1,55)=0.31, P= 0.576). In other words, there is no significant relationship between gender and exercise on self-efficacy. Therefore, yoga training had no effect on self-efficacy in the sample. In addition, there is a significant difference between the experimental (-3.10) and the control group (0.93) in fear of falling. In other words, yoga leads to a significant decline in fear of falling in the elderly. There is no significant difference between the mean changes of confidence in the elderly in the experimental and the control groups.

Keywords:

yoga , self-efficacy , self-esteem , risk , the elderly