The associations between marital satisfaction and life satisfaction among retirees in later life: a longitudinal comparison

은퇴 노인의 부부관계 만족도와 삶 만족도의 관계에 대한 종단적 비교

Objectives: The aims of this study are to examine the associations between marital satisfaction and life satisfaction among Korean retirees in later life and to test whether the degrees of associations increased over time. Method: Nationally representative Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing data from wave 1 (in 2006) to wave 4 (in 2012) was utilized and retirees in later life (65-89 years old, N=402) were analyzed. Latent growth modeling (LGM) and model constraint were applied using Mplus 7.3. Age, sex, household income, subjective health, depressive symptoms and elapsed time after retirement were included as control variables. Results: Linear unconditional LGM fitted the data well and showed gradual decrease in life satisfaction. Conditional LGM revealed significant associations between marital satisfaction and life satisfaction from time 1 to time 4. According to model constraint test, the size of associations between marital satisfaction and life satisfaction did not change with time. Conclusions: To sum up these results, the associations between marital satisfaction and life satisfaction were significant and relatively stable over time among retirees in later life. This study suggests one's spouse is a fundamental component of social convoy among Korean retirees in later life. Therefore, intervention programs targeted toward enhancing marital relationships among retirees' couples will help them to live a better life.