노인부부의 스트레스와 갈등, 우울증, 그리고 권력

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to examine social stress, depression and marital conflicts that are core indicators of mental health of elderly couples by comparison with couples under 60 years old. Under the purposes, based on a Korean national survey of domestic abuse of all age groups, the study considers married couples, 60 years old and above as elderly couples, and those below 60. According to the study, 1) overall, the stress level of elderly people is lower than that of people in young and middle age. 2) Marital conflicts of elderly couples are also relatively lower than those of couples under 60 years old. 3) On the other hand, the depression level of the elderly is higher than that of people in young and middle age; especially the depression level of women among elderly couples is significantly high, while that of elderly men is low. 4) Among the studies of the relationships between stress/ marital conflicts/ depression and marital power, only the relationships between depression and patterns of marital power shows a significance. The level of depression of the couples in equal power-relationship is lower than that of couples in other patterns of marital power. On the basis of the research results above, implications for the social work practice are as follows. Firstly, preventive efforts and therapeutic approaches to depression of elderly couples, especially those of elderly women should be expanded. Secondly, in order to improve mental health of the elderly couples and quality of human life, social workers need to encourage the pattern of the equal power-relationships among elderly couples.