• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.83-106
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• 2004

As the lifespan has been expanded, the marital relationship later in life is getting more important. This study is to find out what the demand for the education of marital couples to improve this relationship. The results can be used as basic data to develop educational programs for elder couples. The results of this study are as follows. 1. Couple role according to socio-demographic variables can be divided into traditional and modern roles. And these variables are shown to be significant in couple role. 2. Need for the education of married couples according to socio-demographic variables. In case of spouses having shorter marriage period, religion, and a nuclear family, and doing social activities, the necessity of education is recognized highly. Those who have a spouse with good health and social activities have experienced a chance to attend the educational program. It is thought that health and social activities have much to do with active living attitude. In case of old age, it can be thought that they don't feel the necessity because they have lived a decent life for a long time. It is just that it comes from the fixed ideas of elder couples who had to spend only a short time with their spouses. That is what elder couples have to overcome. They tend to think that the relationship between the family is more important than that of spouses, and they put family relationship before the quality of their own lives. 3. Influence of the need for the education of married couples according to their role. As their role are becoming modern and their mutual trust, affinity, and cohesion are getting more important, the education of married couples and the experiences of communication and participation in the educational program are thought to be more necessary.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.471-481
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• 2022

This study aimed at examining the mediation effects of depressive symptoms on the association between social activity participation and marital satisfaction among couples in later life. The study included 1,196 married couples aged 65 or above who participated in the 7th Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging in 2018. The study variables were husbands' and wives' social activity participation, marital satisfaction, and depressive symptoms. Covariates were individual age, education level, subjective health, couples' household income, and number of children. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM) and bootstrapping techniques were used to test the significance of the mediating impacts of depressive symptoms based on the dyadic data structure. The results showed that for both husbands and wives, active participation in social activities had significant effects on increasing marital satisfaction through lowering depressive symptoms. However, only the participation of husbands in social activities was positively associated with their own marital satisfaction by reducing their own and their partner's depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that the active social participation of individuals salient for promoting the quality of marital relationships in later life, particularly for preventing their own and their spouse's depressive symptoms.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.197-206
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of marital characteristics on the marital stability among the elderly couples. Each participant was measured using a scale for the concept of marriage, a scale for marital coherence, a marital stress scale, a coping behavior scale and a marital stability scale. Elderly people who have a living spouse and who are living In Seoul were recruited. The data from two hundred and forty participants over 60-years-old were used in the final analyses. Major findings are as follows First, demographic factors such as educational level, health, economic status, the main source of income, and employment status appeared to significantly predict the elderly folks'marital stability Second, gender seems to be a factor In elderly couples'experience of marital stability. Husbands perceived marital stability to be higher than wives did. Third, the perception of marital stress, positive coping behavior and marital coherence influence the marital stability of the elderly couples. That is, the less elderly couples perceived marital stress and the less they relied on negative coping behaviors, the higher they perceived marital stability. These results imply that a healthful coping behavior to marital stress is important in enhancing marital stability for elderly couples.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.195-205
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• 2016

Purpose: This study is to compare the difference in status between elderly individuals with and without a spouse. Methods: The study is based on the Fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(KNHAENS), between 2010 and 2012. Subjects were over the age of 65 years who participated in the survey. Chi-square test and logistic regression of complex sampling design of the KNHAENS and used the survey analysis method by SPSS (version 18). Results: Sleep time of female elders living alone was the shortest which was 2.59 times that of male elders living with a spouse. Stress awareness of female elders living with a spouse was the highest, which was 3.21 times that of male elders living with a spouse. Depression was the highest in female elders living alone, which was 2.26 times that of male elders living with a spouse. Suicidal idea was the strongest in female elders living alone, which was 2.87 times that of male elders living alone. Conclusion: Female elders living alone were weakest in regards to socio-economical aspect with the highest rate of poverty, low educational status, and unemployment. The mental health status of females was worse than that of males. In particular, the mental health status of females living alone was the worst.

• 한국노년학
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.765-783
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• 2016

This study examines 2014 National Survey on Older Koreans (10,279 persons aged 65 or above) to understand social networks among older Koreans. In order to classify the types of social relationships, the latent profile analysis is conducted based on such structural aspects of social networks as network size, frequencies of contact, and closeness. The results show that older Koreans can be categorized into 5 distinct social network types: disengaged (11.6%), ritual-family-focused (17.7%), close-family-focused (23.6%), close-restricted (28,4%), and diverse (18.8%). Characteristics by each social network type are compared and multinominal logistic regression analyses are applied to figure out the influencing factors of social network type. Older persons with disengaged social network ties tend to be overwhelmingly female, living alone, old-old, and of low socioeconomic status. On the other hand, older persons with diverse social network ties tend to be young-old and had highly-ranked jobs in their mid-life. Spouse/children are the focal point of social relationships in both ritual-family-focused and close-restricted social network. However, the proportion of men is higher in the close-family-focused type than in the ritual-family-focused. Older Koreans with close-restricted social network ties tend to be female, uneducated, and have engaged in agricultural and allied activities. This study discusses the implications of its findings and how research in this area should develop in the future.

• 한국노년학
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.299-313
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• 2014

Recently, an interest on parenting stress and depression of grandparents raising grandchildren is rising according to the increase of working couple and divorce. Discussing around developmental task of elderly, one of the influencing factors on increase of grandparents' parenting stress and depression is leisure restriction. However, this factor has received far less rigorous analysis. Thus, the purpose of this article is to offer an analysis of the effect of leisure activities on depression in grandparents raising grandchildren. The data was collected from 172 grandparents raising their grandchildren in 2011 national survey results on the elderly life conditions. Their analyses were composed of descriptive statistic and multiple regression analysis. The study generated several findings. First, grandparents participated in activities for exercise and religion at a high rate and their mean score of depression was 7.1 of 15 what suggests middle level of depression. second, multiple regression analysis showed that the factor of exercise, travel experience, leisure activities satisfaction and other special leisure activities were statistically significant predictors of depression. Implication for social welfare services and programs to improve the mental health of grandparents raising their grandchildren to have positive self-awareness and attitude about life in their position and living condition for help prevent depression were discussed.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.861-881
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• 2019

The purposes of this study are to examine the factors affecting retirement satisfaction, focusing on health, social activity and social security anticipation, and to compare the results between young-old and middle-old. A total of 860 retired people who live alone or live with their spouses were selected from 6th Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, and binomial logistic regression analysis was used to analyze 416 young-old(aged from 65 to 74) and 444 middle-old(aged from 75 to 83). The results are as follows. First, there was no significant difference in retirement satisfaction between young-old and middle-old. Second, when factors affecting retirement satisfaction was examined, young-olds showed hgher retirement satisfaction with higher perception of health condition and mental health condition, and showed lower retirement satisfaction with higher expectation of long-term care insurance. Middle-old was likely to show higher retirement satisfaction when they had better perspective on physical and mental health condition. The results of the study show that health condition of elderly is an important contributing factor in determining retirement satisfaction of the elderly. Based on the results of the study, political and practical suggestions were proposed to improve retirement satisfaction.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.179-193
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• 2015

This study examined the retirement adaptation process for middle-aged and elderly couples. Twelve couples who had experienced retirement were recruited by theoretical sampling. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed through the grounded theory approach of Strauss and Corbin (1998). This study showed the results of 124 concepts, 41 sub-categories and 17 categories indicated through an open coding process. As a paradigm in axial coding, the causal conditions in the adjustment procedures of elderly couples whose spouses are retired were 'retirement preparation,' 'retirement acceptance,' and 'marital satisfaction.' A central phenomenon was 'crisis and conflicts of twilight couples.' The contextual conditions that correspond to this phenomenon were 'psychological separation from adult children,' 'division of household labor,' and 'economic status.' The action/interaction strategies to control the phenomenon were 'recognition of marital relationships,' 'conflicts coping,' 'resolution methods,' and 'self-reflection.' The intervening conditions that facilitate action/interaction strategies were 'attitudes of husbands,' 'mutual awareness of couple,' 'health status,' and 'support systems.' The consequences were 'readaptation of marital relationships,' and 'unresolved conflicts,' and 'trying alone.' This research classified middle-aged and elderly couples' adaptation into three types such as mutual effort, separation & resignation, and conflicts vestige. The findings provide basic information to develop a retirement adaptation program for the middle-aged and elderly.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.333-341
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• 2020

This study examined the trajectories of the marital satisfaction among middle and old aged couples for 8 years. This study focused on middle and old aged couples who were relatively uninterested in family research. Using the 1-5 Waves of Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) 2006-2014, the study included 635 middle and old aged couples whose husbands were 65-74 years old at baseline. First, a latent growth model indicated that a husband's and wife's marital satisfaction trajectories decreased over time. Second, a parallel latent growth model indicated that a husband's marital satisfaction trajectories decreased more quickly, when the initial level of their own marital satisfaction was higher (husband's actor-effect); in addition, a wife's marital satisfaction trajectories also decreased more quickly, when the initial level of their own marital satisfaction was higher (wife's actor-effect). Wife's marital satisfaction trajectories decreased more slowly, when the initial level of their husband's marital satisfaction was higher (husband's partner-effect); however, the husband's slope was not associated with the initial level of their wife's. The methodological value of this work shows the application of a parallel latent growth model that includes the actor and partner effect of APIM. The findings extend our understanding of longitudinal marital dynamics between couples and promote a study on the trajectories of marital satisfaction at stages of the family life cycle.

• 한국노년학
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.541-562
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• 2016

The current study investigates the relationship and the mechanisms between bridge employment and change in marital satisfaction during midlife, using a three-wave panel dataset obtained from the Korean Baby Boomer Panel Study. A multivariate latent growth analysis reveals that the transition from career employment to bridge employment, compared to maintaining career employment, has an indirect negative effect on increase rate of marital satisfaction through the wage decrease. A steep decrease in wage following transition to bridge employment causes a lower increase in marital satisfaction. On the other hand, continuously engaging in bridge employment rather than career employment is associated with a higher increase in marital satisfaction via a higher increase in job commitment. This result implies that Baby Boomers adapt to bridge employment over time. Overall, the present study finds that the effect of bridge employment on the change in marital satisfaction during midlife varies with the duration of bridge employment. A future research needs to explore which factors can buffer the negative effect of decrease in wage during transition to the bridge employment on the change in marital satisfaction.