• 재활복지
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.1-22
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• 2017

Although not many older Korean parents who take care of children with intellectual disabilities have been reported depression due to care-giving related stresses, little is known about how they could be protected from this. This study examines whether satisfaction with family relationships moderate the relationships between time demands, caregiving stress, and depression of older parents who take care of children with intellectual disabilities. The analyses were conducted based on data from the Korean National Survey on Individuals with Developmental Disabilities and their Families of 2011, and only a total of 276 parents, aged over 60 were examined. Multiple regression analysis shows that older parents with higher level of satisfaction with family relationships were less likely to be influenced by time demands of care-giving. This indicates that satisfaction with family relationships could buffer the relationships between time demands of care-giving, and depression. This finding suggests that satisfaction with family relationships is a protective factor, buffering the negative effects of time demands of care-giving and depression. This supports 'socio-emotional selectivity theory' which family relationships are important to older people. Therefore, it is highly recommended to develop practical intervention that can improve the level of satisfaction of family relationship of the older parents, and to make policy and institutional supplementation.