• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.129-139
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• 2003

Living arrangement is considered an important variable in discussing loneliness and the psychological state of the elderly. From this point of view, this study aimed at Identifying the effects of living arrangements, sociodemographic variables, social activities, and social psychological variables on the psychological loneliness of the rural elderly. Though hierarchical regression analyses. the predictors of loneliness among the rural elderly were identified as single/co-residence living arrangement(r=.49), sense of well-being based on respects for others' perspectives (r: -.22), needs for remarriage (r=.22), and work hours during off- farming season (r: -.19). The effects of living arrangement remained strong and were not influenced by the addition of sociodemographic variables, social activity variable, and social psychological variables. The feeling of loneliness of the elderly who were living alone was higher than among the elderly who were living with someone else. This finding suggests that the loneliness of the rural elderly derives primarily from the lack of family Interaction. Therefore, it is recommended that social welfare policies for the rural elderly be designed to improve their family and social interactions.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.23-36
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• 2017

Purpose - In this study, dating in the elderlys' life gave satisfaction: for elderly men, dating gave them self esteem, and in women they were satisfied with the realities. This study investigated the effect of dating in the elderly on their happiness. Research design, data, and methodology - These days, the elderly population rapidly increased to produce a social issue and studies of such in welfare policy for the elderly are limited. The elderly has lost roles in the society because aged people give up human reason and love in accordance with the traditional expectations of them. Subjects in this study were related with investigating the elderly's dating life, loneliness and happiness. Results - The date life of the elderly had significant influence upon psychological loneliness. Hypothesis was adopted and results showed the degree of elderly's dating life had a significant influence upon psychological loneliness (.230**) to account for 13.2% of psychological loneliness. Needs of dating elderly had influence upon psychological loneliness. Conclusions - Psychological loneliness was mediated with dating in the elderly for opportunity and happiness. Hypothesis was that the dating had influence upon happiness. As a result, date opportunity, degree, needs and friendliness had no significant influence upon happiness.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.391-399
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was done to examine factors influencing loneliness in the elderly living in nursing homes. Method: The participants for this study were 150 adults, age 60 or over who had lived for one year or longer in two nursing homes in Gwangju. The questionnaires consisted of measurements of activities of daily living (ADL), social support and loneliness. Frequencies, percentages and means were used with Pearson correlation coefficients, t-test, ANOVA, and Scheffe test to analyze the data. The analysis was done with SPSS 12.0 Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify significant factors influencing loneliness in the elderly living in nursing homes. Results: Significant correlations were found between level of ADL and loneliness (r=-0.379, p<.001), support from friends and loneliness (r=-0.472, p<.001), and support from significant others and loneliness (r=-0.449, p<.001). Loneliness was significantly influenced by support from friends, ADL, and support from significant others. This regression model explained 29% of the variances in loneliness. Conclusion: The findings in this study suggest that improvement in support from friends and ADL can lead to a reduction in loneliness in the elderly living in nursing homes.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1721-1727
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to identify the loneliness and spiritual needs of the elderly in a certain area. The participants in this study were over 65 years, 159 elderly who attended in senior classes in Seoul. The instruments used for this study were revised UCLA 'Loneliness scale' developed by Russell, Peplau & Cutrona (1980) and translated by Kim & Kim (1989) and 'Spiritual need scale' developed by Yong (2008). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0 program, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe's test and Pearson's correlation coefficient. The score of loneliness was 2.02/4, spiritual need was 4.51/5. The relationship between loneliness and spiritual needs showed significant negative correlation. Loneliness of the elderly who do not attend a religious attendance was high and spiritual needs were low. Spiritual needs of the elderly who are women over 80 years and living with subsidy from the government were high. Spiritual nursing interventions are needed to reduce a feeling of loneliness among the elderly who experience high degree of loneliness.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.95-106
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between social support and loneliness in elderly women living alone. Method: Between 1 October 2008 and 30 April 2009, a random sampling method was conducted to recruit 112 elderly women who were living alone. The subjects were at least 65 years of age. Data was collected using the social support questionnaire, and the translated Korean Version of the Revised University of California at Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA Loneliness Scale). Results: In our study, the sources of social support were the children, neighbours, brothers and sisters, in this order. We found that the loneliness of the subjects was related to age, the number of children, and financial difficulty. The level of loneliness negatively correlated with the social support provided by children, brothers and sisters, other relatives, and neighbours. Also, there was a negative correlation with the social support satisfaction. The social support satisfaction and the social support offered by neighbours and relatives were the significant predictors of loneliness. Conclusion: The sources of social support, such as neighbours and relatives, and the social support satisfaction should be considered when planning intervention by nurses or social workers to decrease the level of loneliness in elderly women living alone.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.173-180
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• 2019

Objectives : Loneliness is associated with negative mental and physical health. However, little is known about the risk factors of loneliness in the Korean elderly living alone. The aim of this study was to examine sociodemographic and social network related risks for loneliness among the elderly living alone. Methods : This is a cross-sectional study that enrolled 1,091 subjects who are the community-residing elderly living alone. Sociodemographic status, medical condition, cognition, mood disorder and levels of loneliness were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and a specific semi-structured interview conducted by a trained nurse. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data regarding sociodemographic variable and loneliness. Univariate and Multivariate regression analyses were applied to examine factors associated with loneliness. Results : The mean score of loneliness was 3.8 (SD=1.7). No family contact (standardized β=0.115, p<0.001), no religious attendance (standardized β=0.057, p=0.028), no gathering with friends (standardized β=0.088, p=0.001) and high score of Short for of Geriatric Depression Scale (standardized β=0.502, p<0.001) were significantly associated with high loneliness in the elderly living alone. Conclusions : Family function, social network and depressive mood could be significant risk factors for high loneliness in the elderly living alone. Public health promotion efforts to reduce loneliness should focus on improving family function, social network and decreasing depression.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.319-327
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of loneliness and suicidal ideation and the difference of them according to character type in the elderly. The study involved 149 the elderly, 65 years and over, attending community senior centers and social welfare centers. Data were collected from May to June, 2013 using the structured questionnaire. According to the findings, the means of loneliness and suicidal ideation were 2.0(${\pm}0.5$) and 1.5(${\pm}0.6$) respectively and they were below the median. In character type, percentage of the active integrated coper was 67.1% and next was the dependent passive type, the self-negating undercoper, and the failing overcoper. Loneliness and suicidal ideation of the active integrated coper were lower than them of the failing overcoper and the self-negating undercoper in elderly. There was positive correlation between loneliness and suicidal ideation. It is meaningful that the study results will be provided for understanding of elderly' mental health. Based on the results, the differentiated intervention considered of character type should be developed and provided for decreasing the loneliness and suicidal ideation in elderly.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.425-432
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• 2003

Purpose: To examine the relationships among loneliness, social support, and family function in elderly Korean. Method: The sample for this study were 290 elderly Korean who were at least 60 years of age. Data were collected by interview using the translated Korean versions of the Revised University of California Los Angels Loneliness Scale(RULS), Family APGAR, and Social Support Questionnaire 6. Result: Subjects were moderately lonely and had moderately functional families. Means for social support were 1.42 for network size and 4.09 for satisfaction. Subjects who lived with their spouses had a larger number of network members than who did not live with spouses. However, living with spouses was not associated with social support satisfaction. The level of loneliness was related negatively to the level of social support network, social support satisfaction and family function in this study. Social support satisfaction and Family function were the significant predictor of loneliness. Conclusion: The number of social supporter and satisfaction and family function should be considered in nursing intervention to decrease the level of loneliness in older adults. Further studies and efforts will be needed to reduce the level of loneliness in older adults.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.451-465
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• 2019

This study focuses on the relationship between living alone and depression of the elderly, and explores the possibility that loneliness mediates the relationship between the living alone and the level of depression in Korean Elderly. The sample of the study consists of 1000 elderly aged 65 and above living in Chuncheon. The data is analyzed with the path analysis method with OLS regression method. The main results of this study are as follows. First, the level of loneliness showed a significant difference according to whether they were living alone. The reason for the difference was that the elderly living alone had less intimate relationship comparing with the elderly living with others and did not feel that they had the sense of belonging or intimate relationship with others. Second, it was confirmed that controlling the loneliness, the living alone showed no direct relationship with depression, but it's indirect effect through loneliness was significant.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.43-65
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• 2007

This research aims at finding out how spare time activity, relationships with their children and loneliness affect the satisfaction of life of elderly people who have no spouse. To begin, according to the survey, in the case of elderly people who have no spouse, male elderly people feel more loneliness, lower unification with their offspring, and do less activity in their spare time than female elderly people. The elderly people with a higher educational level, feel less loneliness and have a close relationship with their offspring. When elderly people believe in a religion, they participate in positive activities in their spare time and have a higher satisfaction of life. Secondly, the less the elderly people have for a monthly income, the more they feel a deep sense of isolation. However, if the elderly have a sufficient monthly income, they spend their spare time on positive activities and feel a higher sense of satisfaction in their lives. These results show that economic situation is an important factor for elderly people to maintain good mental health and a good quality of life. Thirdly, the loneliness of elderly people who have no spouse was influenced by whether the elderly people have children or not. If an elderly person loses their spouse through death, they can find themselves in a desperate situation and feeling very isolated. Most elderly people who have no spouse want to live with their offspring and depend on their sons and daughters economically and psychologically. However, the elderly people living alone have lower satisfaction of life because of economic and psychological problems. Therefore, the results shows that the life satisfaction of elderly people who have no spouse was influenced by living with their children and having a close relationship with them. The elderly people who have no spouse feel hopelessness and rely increasingly on their sons and daughters. The elderly people who don't have a sufficient monthly income not only feel more loneliness than other elderly people, but are also restricted in their spare time activities. It proves that the economic situation(monthly income) is also an important factor to maintain personal relationships.