Successful Aging and Satisfaction with Life Among Women in Middle Adulthood Playing Tennis as a Leisure Activity

Successful aging (SA) refers to maintaining psychological and functional capacities as individuals age, while satisfaction with life (SL) represents individuals’ cognitive evaluation of their overall well-being. This study examined the relationships between successful aging strategies—tackling problems (TP) and healthy lifestyle (HL)—and SL among women who regularly play tennis as a leisure activity. Using purposive sampling, 115 women from two pilot provinces in Türkiye participated in the study. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the three-factor measurement model. Structural equation modelling indicated that TP significantly and positively predicted SL, whereas HL showed a weaker association. The structural model explained 44% of the variance in SL. Additionally, moderation analyses tested whether weekly tennis participation duration influenced these relationships; however, participation time did not significantly moderate the associations between SA strategies and SL. The findings highlight the importance of tackling problem resources in supporting women's life satisfaction when engaging in leisure-based physical activity. By focusing on women's leisure tennis participation in middle adulthood, the study contributes to the literature on successful aging by linking leisure-based sport participation to psychosocial resources associated with life satisfaction.