Research in Community and Public Health Nursing (지역사회간호학회지)

Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing (한국지역사회간호학회)
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An Exploratory Study on How and Why Young and Middle-aged Adults Disclose Depressive Feelings to Others: Focusing on the Influence of Perception of Social Norms

청년과 중년 세대의 우울감 표현 방식과 이유에 대한 탐색적 연구: 감정 표현 규범 인식의 영향력을 중심으로

  • An, Soontae (Department of Communication and Media, Ewha Womans University) ;
  • Lee, Hannah (Ewha Institute for Age Integration Research)
  • 안순태 (이화여자대학교 커뮤니케이션미디어학부) ;
  • 이하나 (이화여자대학교 연령통합고령사회연구소)
  • Received : 2020.07.29
  • Accepted : 2021.01.14
  • Published : 2021.03.31
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Abstract

Purpose: This study explored how and why young and middle-aged adults disclose depressive feelings to others. In particular, we investigated the role of social norms to see whether using mobile instant messaging (MIM) could lower the perceived barriers of emotional disclosure. Furthermore, the motivations of emotional disclosure via MIM were compared between young and middle-aged adults. Methods: A total of 255 Koreans (128 middle-aged people, 127 young adults) participated in an online survey. Pearson's correlation coefficients, paired t-tests, SPSS PROCESS macro, and exploratory factor analysis were used to examine the relationships among the key variables. Results: The perceived social norms were found to be a significant deterrent in disclosing depressive feelings to others. However, there was a significant interaction effect between generations and perceived social norms. Although young adults with low social norm awareness were more likely to disclose depressive feelings via MIM, emotional disclosure among middle-aged adults increased with higher levels of perceived social norms. Also, different motivations were observed. Conclusion: The results confirmed the significant effect of social norms as well as generational differences when using MIM as a channel of emotional disclosure.

Keywords

References

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