• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.197-206
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of marital characteristics on the marital stability among the elderly couples. Each participant was measured using a scale for the concept of marriage, a scale for marital coherence, a marital stress scale, a coping behavior scale and a marital stability scale. Elderly people who have a living spouse and who are living In Seoul were recruited. The data from two hundred and forty participants over 60-years-old were used in the final analyses. Major findings are as follows First, demographic factors such as educational level, health, economic status, the main source of income, and employment status appeared to significantly predict the elderly folks'marital stability Second, gender seems to be a factor In elderly couples'experience of marital stability. Husbands perceived marital stability to be higher than wives did. Third, the perception of marital stress, positive coping behavior and marital coherence influence the marital stability of the elderly couples. That is, the less elderly couples perceived marital stress and the less they relied on negative coping behaviors, the higher they perceived marital stability. These results imply that a healthful coping behavior to marital stress is important in enhancing marital stability for elderly couples.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.180-188
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• 2013

Purpose: This study aims to explore the effect of physical, emotional and environmental status on safety consciousness of the elderly who live alone. Methods: A total of 228 participants were the elderly living alone aged 65 years and older. Three questionnaires were developed to measure safety consciousness, physical status, and environmental status by researchers. Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used to evaluate emotional status of the elderly. Data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: Average scores of participants were $3.71{\pm}1.49$ (range 0~6) for physical status, $8.28{\pm}3.38$ (range 0~15) for environmental status, $7.21{\pm}3.40$ (range 0~15) for GDS and $17.00{\pm}6.54$ (range 0~37) for safety consciousness. Safety consciousness was significantly associated with education, marital status, drinking, and depression as emotional status. These variables explained 13.6% of the variance in safety consciousness. Conclusion: The levels of safety consciousness among the elderly living alone were low. Education, marital status, drinking, and depression were the factors affecting safety consciousness. Risk assessment and management of these factors are needed to increase safety consciousness of the elderly.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.130-140
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• 2006

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the conditions of the leisure type, health status, self-esteem, and social support of the elderly living alone. Method: The subjects were 189 elderly. The instrument was a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: The frequency of the leisure types of the elderly living alone was in the order of culture, rest, social activity and sports. The following factors showed a statistically significant relation: gender, education, religion and marital status with leisure type; age, economic status, job and leisure type with perceived health status; education, economic status and religion with self-esteem; and economic status, marital status and religion with social support. There was a negative correlation between ADL and both perceived health status, and self-esteem, but positive correlations between self-esteem and perceived health status, and between social support and both perceived health status and self-esteem. Conclusion: To maintain the quality of life of the elderly living alone, this study suggests that providing various leisure activities could raise self-esteem, and thereby complement for any deficiencies in family and social support.

• 한국노년학
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.371-392
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• 2007

Marital status has drawn much attention as previous studies have been pointed it out as a key factor of health. Nonetheless, systematic studies on elderly marital status and health have been quite limited, for most researches have neglected the varying effects of marital status on health over the lifespan and mainly focused on midlife. This study, using nationwide survey on elderly population, attempts to discover the health differentials between widowed and married elderly and explain the differences though the structure and function of their social network. The results reveal that the magnitudes of marital status effects were differed by dimensions of health. The widowed were more likely to be unhappy than married, even after controlling the socio-demographic characteristics. In physical health, however, the health differences between widowed and married were less noticeable or disappeared, as sex, age and other structure factors were considered. Furthermore, the strength of social network factors affecting the physical and mental health of elderly turned out to be different between married and widowed: widowed were more likely than married to be affected by the contact with children and less likely to be affected by contact with friends/relatives. Such results had both positive and negative impact on physical and mental health of widowed. This may imply the difference in pathways of regulating health among the married and widowed elderly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.192-198
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine associations between marital status and vegetable intake. Methods: Data were from participants 30 years and over (n = 18,190) in the 2007~2010 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Marital status was divided into three groups: married, never married, and separated/divorced/widowed. Vegetable intake was estimated from the twenty-four hour dietary recall. Data were analyzed using a chi-square test, analysis of covariance, least squares means, and logistic regression. Results: Married respondents tend to consume more vegetables, including kimchi, than all other marital status groups. Vegetable intake, excluding kimchi, was lowest among 30~64 year-old respondents who had never married. Elderly men (65 years and older) who were never married/separated/divorced/ widowed had significantly lower vegetable intake than elderly men who were married (p = 0.0008). When considering the Korean dietary reference intake (KDRIs), elderly men who were never married/separated/divorced/widowed, compared with elderly men who were married, had a significantly higher odds ratio for consuming fewer vegetables than the KDRIs (OR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.13~2.37). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that marital status might influence vegetable intake and the probability of consuming fewer vegetables than the KDRIs. In particular, being never married/separated/divorced/ widowed might adversely affect vegetable consumption among elderly men, although assessing the causal effect of marital status from this cross-sectional study is difficult.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.25-44
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• 2003

The purpose of the present study was to suggest the efficient communication methods for improving the quality of marriage and life in the elderly couples. For this study we considered variables connected with the communication efficiency of elderly couples. We investigated 462 elderly men and women whose spouse is alive and Seoul and the National Capital region. The major findings of this study are summarized as follows. 1) The communication efficiency of elderly couples was over than middle level so we could find that they communicate efficiently. 2) The communication efficiency of elderly couples differs significantly according to sex, education level, economic condition, health status, family type, social activity, sociotropy Personality, self-esteem, internal-external controllability, marital intimacy, relative comparison in the level of living. 3) The communication efficiency of elderly couples was dependently affected by intimacy, economic status, relationship; this variables had 40% explanation for communication efficiency.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.1-12
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• 2002

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between socio-familial characteristics and health status in early stage of elderly life. In this study, a total of 252 Korean males and females aged 55 to 74 were interviewed to obtain information on various socio-familial characteristics such as age, gender, residence, marital status, education, religion, distance with children, household size, and living arrangements. They were also examined for self-perceived depression and diagnosed health problems. The analysis of the results show that marital status, gender, and living arrangement were major characteristics differentiating health status; widowed women living apart from their children are at lower level for most items of hea1th status such as emotional, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and muscle and skeletal function. Based on this analysis, suggestions are made for efficient health management. First, widowed females living without children are encouraged to participate in regular health promotion programs in self-organized groups. Second, usual welfare service programs need to be segregated for each age group, so that relatively young elderly are not frustrated from being treated together with extremely frail older elderly. Third, low education group living in rural area are offered preventive medical services for muscular and skeletal related health problems.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.358-367
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the relationship of the elder abuse perception with the caregiving stress of adult caregivers and to investigate influencing factors on them. Methods: Data were collected from 398 adults aged 30-65, and analyzed with the SPSS/WIN program. Results: In the elder abuse perception, there were differences in age, marital status, education, job, person to be taken care of, age of elderly mother, duration of caregiving, economic status and health status of elderly parents. As for the caregiving stress, there were differences in age, marital status, income, health status, relationship with the elder, person to be taken care of, economic status and health status of elder parents. Influencing factors on the elder abuse perception included caregiving stress, education, marital status, health status of elders, and economic status of parents (30%). On the caregiving stress, elder abuse perception, economic status of elders, and relationship between caregivers and elders were influencing factors (24%). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that it is needed to develop a nursing program to prevent elder abuse and to decrease caregiving stress in caregivers. In addition, it should be considered in tandem with significant influencing factors that were found in this study.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.179-193
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• 2015

This study examined the retirement adaptation process for middle-aged and elderly couples. Twelve couples who had experienced retirement were recruited by theoretical sampling. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed through the grounded theory approach of Strauss and Corbin (1998). This study showed the results of 124 concepts, 41 sub-categories and 17 categories indicated through an open coding process. As a paradigm in axial coding, the causal conditions in the adjustment procedures of elderly couples whose spouses are retired were 'retirement preparation,' 'retirement acceptance,' and 'marital satisfaction.' A central phenomenon was 'crisis and conflicts of twilight couples.' The contextual conditions that correspond to this phenomenon were 'psychological separation from adult children,' 'division of household labor,' and 'economic status.' The action/interaction strategies to control the phenomenon were 'recognition of marital relationships,' 'conflicts coping,' 'resolution methods,' and 'self-reflection.' The intervening conditions that facilitate action/interaction strategies were 'attitudes of husbands,' 'mutual awareness of couple,' 'health status,' and 'support systems.' The consequences were 'readaptation of marital relationships,' and 'unresolved conflicts,' and 'trying alone.' This research classified middle-aged and elderly couples' adaptation into three types such as mutual effort, separation & resignation, and conflicts vestige. The findings provide basic information to develop a retirement adaptation program for the middle-aged and elderly.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.175-193
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• 2018

This study identified the rate of income poverty and multidimensional poverty, correlation between income poverty and multidimensional poverty, and adjusted multidimensional poverty rate. We also analyzed the factors that affected the number of poverty dimension and the probability of belonging to the poor or not in 3,159 elderly households including 474 poor households and 2,685 middle class households. First, in poor households, the employment poverty rate was the highest and the housing poverty rate was the lowest. In middle class households, the relation poverty rate was the highest and the employment poverty rate was the lowest. Second, in poor households, correlation between asset poverty and relation poverty had the highest coefficient of .205 and asset poverty and housing poverty had the lowest coefficient of .149. In middle class households, the correlation between income poverty and relation poverty had highest coefficient of -.290 and employment poverty and relation poverty had the lowest coefficient of .038. Third, in poor households, the number of average poverty dimension was 4.30, but the number of average poverty dimensions of middle class households was 2.310. Fourth, the variable affecting the number of poverty dimensions in poor households were gender, age, level of education, marital status; however, the significant variables were gender, education level, marital status, income poverty in the middle class households. The variable that affected the probability of belonging to the poor or not in poor households was age. However, the significant variables were gender, education level, marital status, residence, and income poverty in middle class households.