Life Satisfaction and Depression according to Living Arrangement in Elderly

Choi, Yeon Hee

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the living arrangement, life satisfaction and depression in the elderly. METHOD: The subjects consisted of 371 elderly who has at least one adult child classifying two groups(living with children and not living with children). The data were collected by a structured questionnaire that included general characteristics, Geriatric Leisure Activity Scale, Geriatric Life Satisfaction Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, from March to December, 2004. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS program including descriptive statistics, chi2-test, t-test, Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Hierarchical Regression. RESULT: In hierarchical regression, the elders who live with their children showed more life satisfaction than elders who lived by themselves. However, living arrangement showed no effect on the level of depression of the elderly parents. Significant leisure activity interaction effect was found on the depression among the elderly: The elderly with no leisure activity reported lower levels of depression when they lived with their adult child. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to explore further the various relationship among living arrangement and life satisfaction of the elderly, their preferences and expectations regarding inter-generational obligations and living arrangements.