• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.101-124
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• 2012

This study examined the longitudinal changes of self-perceptions of own aging among middle-aged and elderly adults, using the latent growth modeling with the three waves of the "Aging and the Quality of Life of the Elderly in Korea", which sampled adults aged over 45 living in Seoul and Chuncheon. The dependent variable is attitudes toward own aging, the sub-scale of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale developed by Lawton (1975). The results showed that the research participants' attitudes of their own aging deteriorated over time. In addition, the lower initial status of the research participants' attitudes of their own aging was associated with being older, being non-married, living in rural areas, attaining the lower level of education, having the fewer social activities, reporting the worse subjective economic status, and reporting the worse subjective health status. The slope of the research participants' attitudes of their own aging differed by the residence areas, educational attainments, subjective economic status and subjective health status. In particular, the difference of the initial status by educational attainments grew over time. Social welfare policy and practice implications are discussed for middle-aged and elderly adults to improve attitudes toward their own aging.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.1023-1038
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• 2022

In societies emphasizing the importance of youthful appearance, attitudes toward aging are closely related to how individuals perceive their own bodies, which can be a major determinant of psychological well-being among older adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between attitudes toward aging, positive body image, and life satisfaction among older Korean adults, based on relative deprivation theory and social identity theory. Employing an online survey questionnaire, data was collected from 408 Korean aged 65 and over. The proposed research model was examined via partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results revealed that higher levels of psychosocial loss were associated with lower positive body image, while higher levels of physical change and psychological growth - a good example were associated with higher positive body image. Higher levels of positive body image were associated with higher life satisfaction. Overall, positive attitudes toward aging may increase positive body image and life satisfaction among older adults, controlling for subjective financial and health status. The results of this study emphasize that we should not overlook the importance of positive body image in psychological well-being among older adults.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.692-710
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• 2021

This study aimed to validate the Awareness of Age-Related Change (AARC) scale developed by Brothers et al. (2019) for the Korean elderly. This study took the elderly people in Seoul (over 65 years old) as participants to examine the aging perception of the elderly themselves. For this purpose, we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA, CFA) with two samples (sample 1: N = 185; sample 2: N = 215). EFA revealed and CFA confirmed a two-factor structure consisting of awareness of gains and awareness of losses. Specifically, the awareness of losses had two subfactors consisting of awareness of losses in health and awareness of losses in non-health, while the awareness of gains had no subfactor. Finally, we examined the relationship between AARC, attitudes toward own aging, and emotions then discussed the implication, limitations of this study, and future direction.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.37-51
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to explore university students′ perceptions about the elderly before and after an introductory course for gerontology. Sixty-two male and female undergraduate students participated in the study as a part of the course requirement. Throughout the semester, theme students received a series of classroom lectures on gerontology, as well as participated in diverse activities to experience elderly lives. A survey was administered with the students at the beginning of the first day of class and at the end of the semester. By the end of the unit university students were more likely to have accurate conceptions of and positive attitudes toward aging and the aged. More specifically, they were more likely to (1) perceive "old" and "getting old" as a positive one, (2) seem older adults spend their time on active self-development and social activities, (3) view older adults are important, (4) change opinions about what an old person and young person do together, and (5) have a positive outlook on their own future lives as older adults.

• Journal of Family Relations
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.155-183
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study identified the perceived quality of parent-child relationships and attitudes toward filial duty contracts among young adult children. Also, this study is to examine the effects of sociodemographic characteristics and perceived quality parent-child relationships on the attitudes toward filial duty contracts and the requirement for filial duty contract details. Method: For this study, a survey was conducted with 210 college student children in young adulthood in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. The questionnaire consisted of the 'Attitudes toward Filial Duty Contracts Scale', the 'Requirement for Filial Duty Contract Details Scale', and the 'Quality of Parent-Child Relationships Scale' with a demographic questionnaire. Specifically, the Attitudes toward Filial Duty Contracts Scale consisted of the support for contract, the intention of contract, and reservation contract amount on young adult children's mind. Data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. Results: The major findings of this study are as follows: First, young adult children reported the relationship with mother better than father's and mid levels of support and intention of filial duty contract. They also showed that their reservation contract amount on their mind was about 500 million won. Second, the multiple regression analyses revealed that gender and pride of one's father positively related to their support for filial contract. Also, gender, the pride of one's father, and emotional closeness to one's father significantly affected their intention of filial contract. In addition, among the variables, only monthly family income significantly predicted their reservation contract amount. Finally, the multiple regression analyses revealed that birth order and gender significantly predicted the normative duty contract. Also, the pride of one's father significantly affected the emotional support contract. However, filial duty contract details such as caregiving for sick parents, physical support, and economic support have been found to be meaningless. Conclusions: The findings suggest that preparative education of aging for parents who are considering making the filial duty contracts with their children should include some realistic advice. These pieces of advice include their parent-child relationship and consideration of their own overall asset sizes.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.25 no.1 s.85
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• pp.127-144
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• 2007

This study was conducted for the purpose of analyzing volunteer workers' perceptions of and attitudes toward the behavior problems of the elderly residents after caring for the residents voluntarily at low-income nursing homes. Eleven male and female volunteers ranging from age 19 to 52 were asked how they felt about the elderly residents' behavior problems and what kind of behavioral problems they had experienced after doing volunteer works in the three chosen facilities. In particular, they were expected to explain what emotional changes they experienced during their volunteer service. In this study, it was observed that most of the elderly subjects experienced three categories of behavior problems: habitual, repetitious and unreasonable activities caused by the elderly residents' life span backgrounds, unexpected and/or abrupt behaviors resulting from gradual cognitive impairments, and physiological, awkward activities caused from gradual senility. The volunteers tend to believe that the elderly residents are naturally expected to act positively, since they have been provided with well- planned, regular care services such as bathing, counseling, activity programs, and religious guidances. On the other hand, some respondents stated that their experiences at the nursing homes caused them to form negative images of the elderly; they feel that the elderly are not helpful for giving advices on critical decisions, guiding and encouraging their daily lives, and offering any positive influences toward their own lives. Rather, they find themselves getting too much stressed as a result of their intimate contacts with demented or senile residents. Overall, in this study, it is proposed that education for confronting sudden abrupt behavior problems should be intensified more for female volunteers, since they tend to be more susceptible to emotional harassment resulting from the problem behaviors. It is also proposed that young volunteers who have not been systematically trained for confronting aggressive behaviors need to be separately assigned their roles in order to minimize the potential of confronting unseemly situations resulting from male residents whose mental health has deteriorated. Furthermore, it is also suggested that the combination of leisure-related activities for healthy residents and stressful intimate services for the frail residents be systematically planned and implanted for the volunteer program so that the volunteers can lessen the chances of suddenly finding themselves confronted with extremely abrupt agitations.