• Human Ecology Research
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.219-231
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• 2023

This study examined attitudes toward factors underpinning a successful marriage and their associations with marital satisfaction among married men and women in midlife. The sample comprised 201 married men and women aged between 40 and 59 living in Seoul, South Korea, and the data were collected by a self-report survey in 2019. Attitudes toward factors underpinning a successful marriage were measured using 12 items from the European Values Study Master Questionnaire 2008 and marital satisfaction was measured using three items from the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were performed in order to identify the factors deemed important for a successful marriage, as well as a t-test to explore gendered domains. Additionally, regression analysis was conducted to examine the association between attitudes toward factors underpinning a successful marriage and marital satisfaction. The results revealed two factors that were deemed important for a successful marriage: 'marital exchange based on conditions' and 'qualitative interaction based on sharing.' Women were more likely to believe that both factors were important for a successful marriage than men. The regression analysis revealed that 'qualitative interaction based on sharing' had a positive association with marital satisfaction, while 'marital exchange based on conditions' had a negative association with marital satisfaction, and also that these associations did not differ by gender. The findings imply that a successful marriage can be achieved when married partners make efforts to maintain their relationships through positive interactions and share intimacy in midlife.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.111-124
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences in the health status of the divorced population according to their income status and to explain the social mechanisms. By analyzing 287 midlife men and women divorced within the last 5 years, we found a strong inverse relationship between their health and income status: the low-income divorced group was more liable to depression and poor physical health. Lack of social connections and having less hope for remarriage after getting a divorce were main factors explaining health vulnerability of the low income group among divorced. Further details have been discussed.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.513-522
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• 2002

This study investigated stress and the extent of climacteric symptoms in mid-life men, and examined their relationship in order to better understand the stress and climacteric symptom experiences of mid-life men, and thereby attempted to offer basic materials for the development of a health improvement program that may help increase the quality of life of mid-life men. Three hundred mid-life men whose ages were between 40 and 59 and resided in the Seoul area were subjects of this study. The data were analyzed with the SAS PC program using descriptive statistics to analyze subjects' general characteristics and variables of stress and the extent of climacteric symptoms of the subjects. The relationship between stress and climacteric symptoms were examined by the Pearson Correlation Coefficient, and stress and the extent of climacteric symptoms in relation to the general characteristics were analyzed by T-test and ANOVA. The study conclusions are as follows: 1. Subjects general characteristics The average, age of the subjects was 46 and 47.0% of them reported ages between 40 and 45. Of the subjects, 98% were married. In marriage satisfaction, those who were generally satisfied with their married life comprised 62.0% of the subjects. In terms of level of education, 95.7% were educated above the high school level. In occupational background, 59.7% had occupations related to technologies. As for religion, 42.7% had no religion. In number of children, 67.3% had 2 children. In residential status, 79,3% were living in their own homes. In terms of living arrangements, 87.7% of the subjects were living in the form of nuclear families. 2. Stress and the extent of climacteric symptoms The level of stress was scored as $2.94{\pm}0.74$, and considering that the overall examination score is $27.16{\pm}1.32$, the subjects' stress level was not viewed as particularly high. The average score of the extent of climacteric symptoms was $35.37{\pm}0.27$. The extent of sub-domains of climacteric symptoms included skeleton symptoms ($39.37{\pm}2.81$), joint pain ($39.16{\pm}3.66$), vasomotor symptoms ($35.39{\pm}3.01$), other symptoms ($36.99{\pm}3.02$), psychological symptoms ($34.68{\pm}3.01$), urogenic symptoms ($35.03{\pm}3.27$), and cardiovascular symptoms ($33.70{\pm}2.78$). 3. General characteristics in relation to the stress level The subjects' general characteristics that were significantly related to the level of stress were marriage status (F=4.38, p=.001), marriage satisfaction (F=4.56, p=.001), educational background (F=2.68, p=.012), and age (F=2.48, p=.033). 4. General characteristics in relation to the level of climacteric symptoms The subjects' general characteristics that were significantly related to the level of climacteric symptoms were educational background (F=3.26, p=.007), age (F=2.58, p=.027), marriage status (F=2.62, p=.025), and marriage satisfaction (F=2.78. p=.032). 5. The correlation between stress and climacteric symptoms The subjects' level of stress and climacteric symptoms were significantly related to each other (r=0.578, p=0.000). The subjects' level of stress was correlated with sub-domains of the climacteric symptoms including psychological symptoms (r=0.579, p=0.000), joint pain (r=0.479, p=0.000), skeleton symptoms (r=0.477, p=0.000), other symptoms (r=0.467, p=0.000), vasomotor symptoms (r=0.4615, p=0.000), cardiovascular symptoms (r=0.458, p=0.000), urogenic symptoms (r=0.401. p=0.000). In summary, the climacteric symptoms suffered by mid-life men are positively correlated with their level of stress. In addition, the climacteric symptoms were affected by the level of stress.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.167-194
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• 2006

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of marriage and parenthood on the physical and mental health, in consideration of gender differences. We have retested various theories including Gove's inequality theory to explain how marriage and parenthood affect the contemporary Korean men and women. This study tries to answer these questions by analyzing the data from ${\ulcorner}$Successful Midlife Development: Survey on Mental health and Work/Family Life Course in Korea and the United States (Han et at., 2001)${\lrcorner}. The data were collected from the survey of 1696 adults (women: 49.5% (n=839)) at the age of 27 to 60. In this survey, physical and mental health were evaluated in three dimensions, respectively: depression, perceived physical health and illness symptoms. The results were that occupying both marital and parental status showed better health profile than possessing other role combinations(single parent/married but no child/never-married). Gender differences and other findings have been discussed further.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.551-567
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• 2018

Demographic and socio-structural information is useful to identify potential welfare recipients who are in need of disease-prevention and intervention services. Thus, the present study aims to explore the differences in grip strength among middle and old-aged adults by living conditions and by living area. The 5th wave data of Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging was utilized. The dependent variable was grip strength, and the independent variables were living alone (living alone or not) and living area (city or non-city). Covariates were age, education, log-transformed household income, spouse existence, body mass index, self-rated health conditions, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, smoking, regular exercise, frequency of meeting with friends, and the number of social participation. Regression analysis was performed for middle-aged men, middle-aged women, old-aged men, and old-aged women, respectively. ANOVA and Chi-test were additionally used to specifically discuss significant results. Cross-sectional weight was applied to all analyses. According to the results, living alone and living area did not have significant effects on grip strength among middle-aged men, old-aged men, and old-aged women. In middle-aged women, however, living alone and living area were significantly associated with grip strength. To be specific, middle-aged women who lived alone in rural areas had the lowest grip strength compared to other middle-aged women. Additional analysis showed that middle-aged women who lived alone in rural areas had risk factors, such as low education level, low income, or high depressive symptoms. It implies that middle-aged women living alone in rural areas may have physical health risks, so they might be in need of disease prevention. This study is meaningful in that it can provide reliable information on the latent welfare recipients by using representative panel data and applying weight values.