Gender Differences in the Impact of Intergenerational Support on Depressive Symptoms among Older Adults in Korea

Kyungwon Choi, Gyeong-Suk Jeon and Kwang-Sim Jang
Additional contact information
Kyungwon Choi: Department of Nursing, Korea National University of Transportation, Chungbuk 27909, Korea
Gyeong-Suk Jeon: Department of Nursing, Division of Natural Science, Mokpo National University, Muan-gun 58554, Korea
Kwang-Sim Jang: Department of Nursing, Sehan University, Youngam 58447, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: Background : This study examined the relationship between intergenerational support patterns and depressive symptoms among older men and women in Korea. Methods : A nationally representative survey of non-institutionalized, community-dwelling older adults in Korea was used. A total of 7531 older adults (3592 men and 3939 women) was included in the analysis. Results : We observed gender differences in the impact of financial support exchanges on depressive symptoms. A lack of mutual financial support significantly increased the risk of depressive symptoms by 3.83 times (95% CI 2.34–6.24) in men and 1.73 times (95% CI 1.06–2.83) in women. Men who received financial support were more likely to experience depressive symptoms (OR (Odds Ratio), 1.81, 95% CI 1.36–2.42), whereas women who provided financial support were more likely to experience depressive symptoms (OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.21–6.56). The lack of an exchange of emotional support was significantly associated with depressive symptoms in both men (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.17–1.90) and women (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.50–2.34). Conclusions : We discuss the evidence of gender differences in intergenerational support exchange patterns and their impact on depressive symptoms within the context of Korean cultures and suggest that future research should be conducted on gender differences in the impact of intergenerational support on mental health across diverse societies.

Keywords: depression; older adults; social support; intergenerational relations; gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4380/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4380/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:12:p:4380-:d:373232

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().