• 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.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.211-238
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• 2012

Using data from Korean Longitudinal Study on Aging (KLoSA), this study examines how continuity and change of marital status is associated with health over time among older women, focusing on the moderating effects of age and parent-child relationships. KLoSA data set has two waves of interviews, and for this study, 2046 women aged 65 and over were selected. To analyze data, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used. The major findings are as follows. First, there was no statistically significant difference in health between continuously married older women and continuously single older women. However, older women who had transition from being married to being single showed lower physical health than continuously married and continuously single older women. Second, there were statistically significant differences in the effect of marital status on mental health according to the age of older women. Older women who had transition from being married to being single showed lower mental health than continuously married elders when older women were younger. Third, contact with children moderated the effect of marital status on physical health. Older women who had transition from being married to being single showed lower physical health than continuously single and continuously married older women when older women had less contact with their children. The findings imply after the loss of marital role, older women's relationship with adult children plays a significant role in promoting health. In conclusion, the findings of this study show the different pathways through which marital status is associated with health for 3 different groups of older women, being continuously single, being continuously married, and making transition from being married to being single.