• 한국노년학
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.371-392
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• 2007

Marital status has drawn much attention as previous studies have been pointed it out as a key factor of health. Nonetheless, systematic studies on elderly marital status and health have been quite limited, for most researches have neglected the varying effects of marital status on health over the lifespan and mainly focused on midlife. This study, using nationwide survey on elderly population, attempts to discover the health differentials between widowed and married elderly and explain the differences though the structure and function of their social network. The results reveal that the magnitudes of marital status effects were differed by dimensions of health. The widowed were more likely to be unhappy than married, even after controlling the socio-demographic characteristics. In physical health, however, the health differences between widowed and married were less noticeable or disappeared, as sex, age and other structure factors were considered. Furthermore, the strength of social network factors affecting the physical and mental health of elderly turned out to be different between married and widowed: widowed were more likely than married to be affected by the contact with children and less likely to be affected by contact with friends/relatives. Such results had both positive and negative impact on physical and mental health of widowed. This may imply the difference in pathways of regulating health among the married and widowed elderly.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.255-263
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• 2015

The current study examines the association between multiple losses and depressive symptoms and the role of social support in multiple losses. Using a prospective designed dataset(Changing Lives of Older Couples), this study found a significant difference on the depressive symptom levels between multiple losses and single loss. In addition, there was a significant buffering effect of social support in bereavement, as oppose to previous literature that social support does not buffer the initial bereavement reaction in comparisons between the bereaved with multiple losses and the bereaved with a single loss. The author discusses the importance of monitoring elderly people with multiple losses and availability of social support before and after the loss.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.233-242
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• 2015

This study was carried out as a preliminary study to analyze how emotion(depression and anxiety) after spouse bereavement in old age affects social interaction and to set a direction of developing programs based on the cause and period of bereavement to promote social interaction for those bereaved people. To that end, welfare facilities and schools for the elderly and churches located in Seoul, and Suwon and Osan areas were visited and surveys were executed on 350 aged people who had experienced spouse bereavement from September 26 through October 25, 2014. Analysis was executed for 325 questionnaires out of the total of 350 using SPSS WIN 20. Study findings are as follows: first, the average of emotion and social interaction due to bereavement was not significantly different between groups; second, the average of emotion and social interaction due to bereavement period was not significantly different between groups; third, the impact of bereavement type and period statistically significant. These findings implies that social interaction programs for the aged people can be developed regardless of bereavement cause or period.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.259-269
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• 2022

This study is a descriptive research study to investigate The mediating effect of family Function on the relationship between depression and life satisfaction of bereaved older women. From March to April 2021, data were collected from older women over the age of 60 who lived in A city and experienced bereavement. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 27.0 Statistics Program. It was confirmed that family Function had a full mediation effect on the relationship between depression and life satisfaction of bereaved older women. Based on the results of this study, it is necessary to develop various programs that can improve family Function to help the older women who have experienced the bereavement of their spouses adjust smoothly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.939-967
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• 2011

This study observed elderly women's adaptation process on separation by death in rural areas through grounded theory approach and developed its entity theory. Participants for this study were 14 elderly women who have lost their husbands in the last 12 months. The study was conducted for 8 months starting January 2010. Each interview per session took 40 to 90 minutes, study notes were taken on site, and recorded contents were transcribed by the researcher which was myself. The research data were collected by in-depth interview and with help of local community's nurses who were in charge of taking care of the participants. The collected data were analyzed by applying Strauss & Corbin's grounded theory (1998). As a result of study, 80 concepts, 28 subcategories, and 12 categories were deducted during open coding process. Adaptation process on separation by death was process of 'finding a way to live alone' which used strategy of 'attempting a make changes in life', and 'embracing the situation' which were influenced by conciliatory conditions of 'degree on economic condition', 'change in health', and 'supporting system' which focuses on phenomenon of 'bearing life alone' which is influenced by context condition of 'marital chemistry of couples during lifetime', and 'the couple's leadership during lifetime' together with casual conditions of 'the fall of wall'. The adaptation process accordance to time flow were divided into 4 steps which were step of 'shock and release of emotions', step of 'longing and resentment', step of 'resignation and acceptance', and step of 'life's restructure'. Above results suggest right directions for welfare for the aged and process of 'finding a way to live alone' for participants by controlling several factors and using intervention strategy, and provided basic data required for developing and applying practical welfare mediation.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.336-343
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dependency and abuse on depression according to gender in widowed elderly. Method: A convenient sample consisted of 246 widowed elderly who were more than 65 years old in four cities. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire from August to September, 2002. A dependency Scale developed by Ahn (1999) was used to measure the level of dependency. Emotional abuse and physical abuse were measured by 10 items for emotional abuse and 7 items for physical abuse selected out of the Conditions Scale of Elder Abuse. The level of depression was measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The SPSS WIN 11.0 version program was used for data analysis. Result: In male widowed elderly, dependency affected depression indirectly through emotional abuse. While in female widowed elderly, dependency affected depression directly and affected emotional abuse indirectly. Conclusion: The study showed that dependency was the most explainable variable on depression in widowed female elderly. Therefore, it dependency should be assessed first in nursing intervention to relieve depression of widowed elderly.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.89-108
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors influencing life satisfaction in widowhood among older females. Using the sixth Korean Retirement and Income Study (KReIS) supplementary survey data, a total sample of 1,471 women aged 65 or older whose spouse had died were selected, divided into 508 young-old (65-74), 745 middle-old (75-84), and 218 oldest-old (85+). Then, factors influencing the life satisfaction of these three groups were analyzed, based on a combination of perceived health and interpersonal satisfaction levels. It was found that among the young-old group, a higher level of subjective health perception indicated by monthly income and material support and interpersonal satisfaction linked to more frequent participation in community gathering combined for an overall higher level of life satisfaction. For the middle-old group, higher life satisfaction was provided by monthly income, informational support, and material support for subjective health perception and no diseases for interpersonal satisfaction. The oldest-old group with higher life satisfaction referred to monthly income for subjective health perception and no experience in donation activities for interpersonal satisfaction. Based on these findings, this study provides implications for policy and practice to improve the life satisfaction of elderly women who have experienced their spouse's death.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.103-123
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• 2018

The purpose of this research is to study how an elderly male lives after the experience of bereavement, and to understand the experience's essence. The researcher picked 3 elderly men living alone after separation by death as test subjects and gathered information through in-depth interviews. The analysis of the information was done based on the three-dimensional space of narrative presented by Clandinin and Connely(2000), and it restructures the common experience under five meanings. The mutual themes of 'It's the life of a sinner, but not wanting to be seen as a widower to others', 'The fear for death, and the preparation for after death', 'Trying to stay alive for the children', 'Entering the world to find meaning in a gloomy life', and 'A lone goose lost in search of social warmth' came from the research results. The essence of the experience studied with the mutual themes as basis came out to be 'A struggle to take flight again after one broken wing'. This research has a major significance in that elderly males' experience of bereavement was studied in the dimension of time continuity, and that individual social interactions that are made by elderly males to continue their lives after the experience of bereavement were studied.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.21-35
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to empirically verify the effects of spousal bereavement and complicated grief level on death anxiety of the elderly. The sample consisted of 1,998 adults who were aged 65 or older. Dependent variable was measured with the Death Anxiety Scale-Korean version (DAS-K). Independent variable was measured with both spousal bereavement and the Inventory of Complicated Grief-Korean version (ICG-K). Multiple regression analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0, adjusting for demographics, psycho-social and health variables. The results indicated that death anxiety level was lower among the bereaved with normal grief (p<.01) than non-bereaved. In contrast, death anxiety level was higher among the bereaved with complicated grief than non-bereaved (p<.01). The study result suggests that the most risky factor for death anxiety is complicated grief rather than the bereavement. Although the bereavement can be a universal experience, the severity and duration of symptoms after the bereavement may not be general. The unhealed emotional and physical pain after the bereavement stimulates death anxiety, and senior citizens who suffer from complicated grief often fail to integrate the bereavement and loss into reality, therefore, may not accept the death phenomenon itself. Anxiety and fear of death can emerge when they cannot acknowledge the bereavement. To manage complex sorrows and mitigate death anxiety, intervention programs should be provided to increase adaptability to the bereavement.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.777-788
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• 2022

This study was attempted to investigate relationship between spousal bereavement and frailty in the Korean older adults using data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(KNHANES VII-3, 2018). The subjects were 1,609, complex sample frequency, descriptive statistics, cross and logistic regression analysis were performed using SPSS program. As a main result, frailty simultaneously adjusted for general, health behavior and disease characteristics did not show significant relationship between spousal bereavement, but frailty is significantly decreased 65~69, 70~74 years old, better of subjective health perception, no arthritis, significantly increased lower level of income. Finally personal, familiar and social efforts are required to manage the elderly who have lost their spouse.