• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.336-343
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dependency and abuse on depression according to gender in widowed elderly. Method: A convenient sample consisted of 246 widowed elderly who were more than 65 years old in four cities. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire from August to September, 2002. A dependency Scale developed by Ahn (1999) was used to measure the level of dependency. Emotional abuse and physical abuse were measured by 10 items for emotional abuse and 7 items for physical abuse selected out of the Conditions Scale of Elder Abuse. The level of depression was measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The SPSS WIN 11.0 version program was used for data analysis. Result: In male widowed elderly, dependency affected depression indirectly through emotional abuse. While in female widowed elderly, dependency affected depression directly and affected emotional abuse indirectly. Conclusion: The study showed that dependency was the most explainable variable on depression in widowed female elderly. Therefore, it dependency should be assessed first in nursing intervention to relieve depression of widowed elderly.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.59-79
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to investigate the living status of widowed and unwidowed elderly women by means of the case study employing in depth interviews. The main results are following : First, In the case of economic status of elderly women was very low: widowed, it was significantly low. The allowances were provided by their children. And they were spent for medical expenses¬Second, Most elderly women have one or two chronic diseases, mostly Arthritis, Gastritis, Hyperpiesia. Third, The emotional relationship of the elderly women centered around their children. Fourth, Leisure activities of the elderly women were not partially formed, usually T.V. watching, chatting, playing Korea cards. Fifth, The elderly women wanted most to work for house chores, do light exercises, and to earn pocket money. Sixth, The wish for the goverment was financial support! health support! and emotional welfare support.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.609-618
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to explore gender differences in elderly's dating experience and related variables. 427 elderly of age 65 or older participated. The results are as follows. 1. 80% of widowed elderly had no dating experience, and far more elderly men than women had dating experience. 2. Attitudes towards dating, of both elderly themselves and their children, had influence on the elderly's dating experience, regardless of gender. This indicates that the elderly's own acceptance and their children's positive attitude are important to the elderly's dating experience. 3. Gender differences were found in influences of living arrangement (whether they lived with their children or not), economical reasons, and personality factors. These variables proved significant only for the elderly men. More elderly men who did not live with their children than the elderly men who did had experienced dating, and economical reasons along with personality factors proved to be obstructive for elderly men's dating life.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.1098-1107
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the types of life adjustment of widowed elderly women in Korea. Methods: The research design was a Q-Methodological Approach. Thirty selected Q-statements from 32 subjects were classified into a shape of normal distribution using a 7 point scale. The collected data was analyzed using a QUANL PC program. Results: Three types of life adjustment were identified. Type I is the independent type: overcome the reality. Type II is the abandonment type: deny the reality. Type III is the accommodation type: accept the reality. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that different approaches to the quality of life for widowed elderly women in Korea are recommended based on the three types of life adjustment.

• 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 Families and Better Life
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.215-227
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• 2009

The subject of this study is a cohort of elderly women who are older than 60 years of age and reside S city in and Jeonnam. The sample size of this study is 386. The statistics used for data analysis were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, reliability, ANOVA, correlation, and multiple regression analysis through the SAS package program. The major study result were as follows. First, the physical satisfaction of elderly women is low, and the life satisfaction of the married group is higher than for the widowed group. Second, according to the results. For the women from the married group, the effect were from economic state, age, and physical satisfaction. There were also significant interaction effects according to economic state$\times$physical satisfaction, age$\times$economic state$\times$physical satisfaction, and age$\times$physical satisfaction. As for women from the widowed group, the effect were from physical satisfaction, economic state, and age. There were also significant interaction effects according to economic state$\times$physical satisfaction, age$\times$physical satisfaction, age$\times$economic state$\times$physical satisfaction, and age$\times$economic state. Fourth, the married group gave significance to life satisfaction, economic state, physical satisfaction, and age. The group of widows gave significance to life satisfaction, physical satisfaction, economic state, and age. The results of this study suggest that we should be concerned about the physical satisfaction of older women and should foster a social atmosphere to establish a positive image of elderly women.

• 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.

• 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 Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.382-390
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was done to identify the relationship of perceived health, coping strategies, dependency, suicidal ideation and depression widowed elders, and to identify predictors of depression in this population. Method: The research design for this study was a descriptive survey design using a convenience sampling. Data collection was done using self-questionnaire with 162 elders from welfare centers for senior citizens located in 3 cities, Seoul, Gangneung and Seosan. Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression with the SPSS Win 12.0 Program were used to analyze the data. Results: Depression had significant negative correlations with perceived health (r=-.525, p<.001), and coping strategies (r=-.253, p=.005) and positive correlations with dependency (r=.430, p<.001), and suicidal ideation (r=.473, p<.001). The explained variance for depression was 47.5%. Of the variables, perceived health (${\beta}=-.237$, p=.003), suicidal ideation (${\beta}=.398$, p<.001) and dependency (${\beta}=.341$, p<.001) significantly predicted the degree of depression. Conclusion: Findings from this study provide a comprehensive understanding of depression and related factors for widowed elders in Korea. However, further study with a larger random sample and more a detailed research design is necessary.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.695-704
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to understand the elderly's attitudes toward dating and remarriage, as well as how they are influenced by their relationships with their children, and to categorize the attitudes toward dating and remarriage, and examine each type's characteristics. The results are as follows: 1. Widowed elderly were positive towards dating and remarriage, and were more positive towards dating than towards remarriage. 2. The influence of the relationships with the elderly's children was bigger on remarriage than on dating. 3. Among the typology of attitudes, 'pro-dating/anti-remarriage' group had the most participants, and 'anti-dating/anti-remarriage' group had the least participants. 4. It is worth noting that 'anti-dating/pro-remarriage' group had distinctly different characteristics compared to 'pro-dating/anti-remarriage' group, as was with "pro-dating/pro-remarriage" group and 'anti-dating/anti-remarriage' group. To elaborate, those who belonged to 'anti-dating/pro-remarriage' group were younger, mostly male, relatively highly educated, had weaker emotional ties with children, and got the least help. In contrast, the members of 'pro-dating/anti-remarriage' group were older, overwhelmingly female, and vast majority of them were lowly educated. Also, they had stronger emotional ties with the children, and got the most help. 'Anti-dating/anti-remarriage' group and 'pro-dating/pro-remarriage' group showed a contrast in the intensity of emotional ties with their children. The former was the strongest in emotional ties, and got a considerable amount of help, while the latter was weaker in emotional ties and got less help.