The influence of participating in a voice-training program on elderly men’s psychological well-being and communication with their wives

Abstract

This study examined whether participating in a voice-training program called Sports Voice (SVP) promoted elderly men’s psychological well-being and communication with their wives. Three waves (before, immediately after, and three months after the SVP) of a panel dyad survey were conducted with elderly men who participated in the SVP and their spouses. The participants were compared with a control group who did not take part in the SVP. An analysis of covariance revealed that compared with the control group, the experimental group had higher self-esteem, psychological well-being, reflected self-appraisal, and spousal appraisal scores regarding their communication attitude. Moreover, path analysis indicated that participating in the SVP enhanced group identity, which in turn raised the participants’ self-esteem and psychological well-being. Although these effects had disappeared by the time of the survey’s third wave, the men with stronger group identities showed improved well-being and quality of communication than those with weaker group identities. These findings suggest that the SVP promoted elderly men’s psychological well-being by enhancing their group identity within relatively a short period of time.