• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.25 no.1 s.85
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• pp.59-75
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• 2007

This review synthesizes research during the past 15 years on the family relations of older persons. After discussing two background issues-sociodemographic changes of later life families and the status of the elderly-the following topics are addressed; relationships between aged parents and adult children, couple relationships, grandparents' relationship with their grandchildren and sibling relationships. Family relationships are vital support systems providing emotional and instrumental support in the lives of older persons. Mutual assistance and affection among family members were found to be common characteristics. Although research on family gerontology has increased in quantify, there are feater needs to develop qualitative, longitudinal and theory grounded studies to capture the rich complexity of family life. Other challenges and suggestions for future research on older persons' family relationship are presented.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.51-73
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• 2011

Korean society with low fertility rate and high aging rate crisis has been tried very hard to find out alternatives to solve these social problems. These efforts resulted in increasing the development of education programs for the elderly. The education for the elderly have been development in various different academic fields. Therefore, this is the time to establish database for education programs which developed so far. The purpose of this study is to examine research trend in the field of education programs for the elderly in Korea. For this purpose, 62 education programs for the elderly which developed so far were analyzed. The results of this study were as followed. The topics of education programs for the elderly were divided into the following : a marriage enrichment programs for the elderly married couples, leisure programs, death education programs, health education programs, economic education programs, education programs for grandparents raising their grandchildren, etc. Based on the results of this analysis, the tasks of future research about education programs for the elderly were presented.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-30
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to investigate (1) the relationship between gender-role attitude and psychological well-being related to the division of household labor and (2) the effect of congruency between gender-role attitude and the division of household labor on psychological well-being for the elderly. In this study, independent variable is gender-role attitude, mediating variable is the division of household labor and dependent variable is psychological well-being. Psychological well-being consists of depression and happiness. The hypotheses of this study are as follows: 1) Gender-role attitude affects psychological well-being of the elderly. The more egalitarian gender-role attitude, the higher degree of psychological well-being, whereas the more traditional gender-role attitude, the lower degree of psychological well-being. 2) The division of household labor influences psychological well-being of the elderly. The higher degree of division of household labor is likely to show the higher degree of psychological well-being. 3) The congruency between gender-role attitude and the division of household labor affects psychological well-being. As the relationship between gender-role attitude and the division of household labor is more congruent. psychological well-being increases. The results of the study are summarized as follows: 1) There is no relation between gender-role attitude and psychological well-being for the elderly. 2) The division of household labor affects psychological well-being for husband. The higher degree of division of household labor, the higher degree of psychological well-being. The result shows that husbands are involved in household labor involuntarily. 3) Congruency between gender-role attitude and the division of household labor affects psychological well-being. As the relationship between gender-role attitude and the division of household labor is more congruent, the degree of depression decreases. 4) Wives participate in most of household labor. Gender segregation in household labor is found in elderly family. 5) Health, income, network of children or sibling, and community network affect psychological well-being. The healthier, higher income and stronger network are likely to show the higher degree of psychological well-being.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.129-147
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• 2013

The primary focus of the study assesses how individual spouses' and their partners' marital adjustment influence their own and their mental health. The study also examines whether this influence was mediated by the relationship with their adult-children. Data were collected from 271 dyads of elderly couples by using a self-report questionnaire. Marital adjustment was measured in terms of intimacy and comparison level of marriage. Mental health was measured in terms of depressive mood, anxiety, and somatization. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) analysis revealed that marital adjustment was positively associated with one's own mental health and with one's own relationship with their adult-children, but not with their partner's. On the other hand, the relationship with adult-children was positively associated with one's own and with their partner's mental health. Furthermore, analysis of the mediating model using APIM indicated that marital adjustment through one's own adult-children relationship had direct and indirect effects on one's own mental health. It is interesting to note that the wives' mental health were directly influenced by their partners' relationship with adult-children. However, the effect of the husbands' mental health was not significant. These findings highlight dyadic interdependence among spouses' perceptions of marital and adult-children relationship with their mental health. The results suggest implications for educators and clinicians working with elderly couples to improve their psychological and relational health.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.691-706
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• 2020

This study aims to explore health behavior profiles and the association between the derived profiles and living arrangement among middle-aged and older adults. Using data from wave 6 (2016) of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, latent profile analyses were applied to identify patterns of health behaviors and multinomial logistic regression models were conducted to predict profile membership using living arrangement (i.e., living alone, living with spouse only, living with family members) and sociodemographic characteristics. A sample of 7,048 respondents aged 55 and older were included in the study. Results revealed that Korean middle-aged and older adults can be grouped into four health behavior profiles: "High health-compromising" (4%), "Moderate health-compromising" (28%), "Low health-compromising" (65%), and "High physical activity" (3%). Also, living arrangement showed significant profile differences. Compared to the respondents living alone, those living with spouse only were more likely to belong to low and moderate levels of health-compromising behavior profiles than the "High physicial activity profile". Respondents living with family members were more likely to belong to the "High health-compromising profile" than the "High physical activity profile" compared to those living with spouse only. These findings indicate that living arrangement needs to be taken into consideration when developing health promoting programs and supports. Moreover, policy interventions suiting the needs of various sociodemographic subgroups are recommended.

• Journal of Family Relations
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.25-51
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify patterns of gender role attitude among older men and women and to investigate the effects of the identified patterns on marital quality for each gender. Method: The Third National Survey of Korean Families was utilized and 981 men and 752 women aged 60 and above, who have been married for over 20 years and have at least one child, were analyzed. Using Mplus 7.3, a latent profile analysis (LPA) identified latent profiles of gender role attitude for each gender. Then, using SPSS 23.0, multiple regression analysis analyzed the effects of the identified patterns on both marital satisfaction and marital conflict. Results: The latent profile analysis identified two patterns of traditional and partially egalitarian gender role attitudes each for the older men and women. Also, means on items relevant to the male breadwinner model and the male-oriented family culture were relatively low for both men and women regardless of the patterns. For the older men, the effects of the gender role attitude patterns on marital satisfaction and marital conflict were both significant; those individuals with the partially egalitarian gender role attitude pattern reported higher levels of marital satisfaction and lower levels of marital conflict than those individuals with the traditional gender role attitude pattern. However, the effects of the gender role attitude patterns on marital satisfaction and marital conflict were both not significant for the older women. Conclusions: The findings from this study suggest that political interventions are required to promote an egalitarian family culture for older adults. Moreover, its findings may be useful in the field of marriage and family therapy to develop educational programs that seek to improve marital quality in later life.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.265-288
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• 2009

The study has found that the main reasons affecting to the mature conjugal relations of middle-aged persons are closely related with sede factors brought about after marriage. Comparatively the factors before marriage have more or less weak power on the conjugal relations. They are mature relations wp between husbands and wives, stable and enough incede, and religious activities, which have deep relations with the satisfactory conjugal relations. C. G. Jung divided the whole life span as self-assuredness period in the first half and self-convergence period in the second half. The first is the period when one does his or her best to get external and physical self. On the contrary, the second is the middle-aged period one finds his or her meaning of life in the religious, philosophical, intuitional, and spiritual world, which lead life into harmony and integration. Therefore if one overcomes some psychological crisis related with middle-aged development he or she can enjoy happy senescence(old age). The study has suggested through literature investigation the definition of middle age and the developmental traits of middle age, and the relations between religions and conjugal relations of middle-aged husbands and wives. Futhermore, it has analyzed the theories which religions have close relations with the life satisfaction of middle-aged conjugal relations. In order to give an analysis the influence of the variable of religious activities and religious maturity, with the degree of conjugal satisfaction, 400 middle age are selected as the object of the study whose ages are ranging from 35 years to 60 years, and who reside in Seoul or near Seoul. They were asked to fill out the questionnaires asking about religious activities, religious maturity, and the conjugal satisfaction from March 25th to April 30th, 2009. The results of the survey have been statistically processed and analyzed. First, the higher religious maturity gives positive influence on the general religious activities including public service, human relations, and spiritual stability. That is, this result indicates that the individual, spiritual, and formal religious activities give to a degree influence on the religious maturity. Second, the maturity of religious life resulting from religious activities has a causation with the satisfaction of conjugal life. In more details, religious activities has a positive influence on the satisfaction of conjugal life(T=31.36, p<.001) In more details, religious activities has a positive influence on the religious maturity(T=31.36, p<.001), and religious activities has a positive influence on the satisfaction of conjugal life(T=33.81, p<.001), and the religious maturity has a positive influence on the satisfaction of conjugal life(T=28.64, p<.001) Third, as we analyze the main effects which religious activities and the religious maturity could give influence on the satisfaction of conjugal life, it is found that both religious activities(F=15.95, p<.001) and the religious maturity(F=23.94, p<.001) give a positive influence on the satisfaction of conjugal life. In conclusion, it is sure that religious activities and the religious maturity have a close relations with the satisfaction of conjugal life. Therefore it can be said that religious activities at the protestant religion, buddhism, and catholic religion can give an important influence on the satisfaction of middle-aged conjugal life.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.165-193
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• 2013

This study purposes to explore the growing process through spousal bereavement in later life, and to develop the theory. A qualitative research was conducted, and the participants were 17 seniors. The analysis according to Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory(1998), resulted in 143 concepts, 43 subcategories, and 19 categories. Range analysis according to paradigm showed that the causal conditions were 'marital relationships', 'independent/dependent tendencies', and 'emotional readiness for the death of a spouse', and the phenomena were 'depression', 'hopelessness', 'daily stress', 'psychological intimidation', 'regret', and 'sense of being freed'. The contextual conditions that affect these phenomena were 'desire for intimate personal relationships' and 'desire to maintain independence'; the action/interaction strategies to manage the phenomena were 'facing reality' and 'efforts for construction of the new life'; and the mediating conditions that promote or suppress these action/interaction strategies were 'social support' and 'spirituality'. The results were 'reconstruction of the meaning in life', 'increase in self-esteem', 'reinforcement of social network' and 'embrace and acceptance'. Furthermore, when personal growth after bereavement of a spouse was analyzed focusing on changes over time, the growth process consisted of three steps: 'sadness and despair', 'embracing and moving forward', and 'personal growth'. The pattern analyses were performed to typify recurring relations by category, and 5 types were derived. The results of our study show that personal growth after spousal loss is an integrative process in life after crisis, and can be conceptualized as the process of overcoming the despair that immediately follows the death of a spouse, seeking a new life by actively taking control, and discovering a strengthened self.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.615-633
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• 2023

This study aimed to examine the actor and partner effects of marital satisfaction on life satisfaction in middle-aged and older couples via their health behavior and health. The study participants included a total of 2,108 couples, aged 57 and over, from the eighth wave of data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA). The marital satisfaction, health behavior, health, and life satisfaction of the husbands and wives were measured to conduct the analysis. This analysis was conducted based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM) with the bootstrapping technique being used as the mediating effect. The results indicated that there were significant actor and partner direct and indirect effects when it comes to the relationship between the participants' marital satisfaction and their own life satisfaction, mediated by health behavior and health. However, no significant influences regarding the health of the participants on the life satisfaction of their spouses were found. These results suggest that it is important for middle-aged and older couples to improve their marital relationships in order to promote the health and life satisfaction of both parties. Doing so will help husbands and wives lead healthier lifestyles based on their positive relationships.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.1-12
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived depression and conflict bvetween married couple in old age. The subject of this study was married couple over 60 years old who live in Seoul. The sample was composed of 201 cases. The data were analyzed using a SPSS statistics analysis program. The major findings were as follows: 1) The marital conflict in old age showed that there was a significant difference according to visiting and contact frequency of adult children. 2) The depression in old age show that therer was a significant difference in health condition, age, standard of living, educational level, duration of marriage, and leisure activity patterns. 3) The depression in old age was influenced by health condition, marital conflict, educatonal level. Health condition was the most powerful indicting the depression.