• Survey Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.25-59
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• 2017

The current study investigated how elderly husbands and wives' marital satisfaction and depression change over time and examined how changes in marital satisfaction account for changes in depression between and within the dyads. The longitudinal dyadic data from the first wave(2006) to the fifth wave(2014) of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging(KLoSA), collected by the Korea Employment Information Service, were used for the analyses. Because husbands and wives are interdependent within couples, we applied statistical models for dyadic data. The dyadic growth model(DGM) was used to model the trajectories of marital satisfaction and depressive symptoms. In order to analyze the association of these growth factors, we proposed the dyadic growth actor-partner interdependence model(DG-APIM) and applied the model to the data. The results showed that on average the husbands' marital satisfaction was higher but decreased faster over the course of the study than the wives'. It also showed that the average depression of the husbands was lower than that of the wives but the husbands' depression increased faster than the wives' over the course of the study. The variance of the averages of husbands' (wives's) depression was accounted for by that of wives'(husbands') marital satisfaction, showing a partner effect. The variance of the slopes of husbands'(wives') depression was accounted for by that of marital satisfaction of themselves, showing an actor effect. The results showed that there is a longitudinal interdependence between husbands and wives' marital satisfaction and depression and supported the marital discord model of depression.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.421-444
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• 2021

The purpose of this research is to examine the reciprocal relationships between depression and marital satisfaction among older couples. For longitudinal dyadic analysis, this study sets up a research model based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, the Common Fate Model, and Autoregressive Cross-Lagged Model. Data came from four annual waves from the 10th year (2015) to the 13th year (2018) of the Korean Welfare Panel Survey and the final sample comprised a total of 1,383 married couples over 60 years of age in 2015. Structural Equation Modeling identified the reciprocal relationship between depression and marital satisfaction among older couples, with higher marital satisfaction of older couples leading to lower depression of husbands' and wives', and with higher depression of husbands' and wives' inducing lower marital satisfaction of the couples. Thus, this study suggested that longitudinal interplay between depression and marital satisfaction can lead to a vicious cycle. Based on these findings, the need to intervene at both the individual level and the couple level was discussed in order to reduce depression and improve marital satisfaction.