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KMID : 0389420100180040315
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Korean Journal of Stress Research
2010 Volume.18 No. 4 p.315 ~ p.325
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Factors Affecting the Mental Health of the Korean American Elderly in the Los Angeles County: Focusing on the Socioeconomic Traits and Social Capital Traits
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Kim Bum-Jung
Lee Hong-Jik
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Abstract
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This study aims to explore the factors that affect the Korean American elderly’s mental health. Especially, it attempted to explore how the socioeconomic characteristics and social capital of the elderly affect their mental health. Data on the 205 elderly who were at the age of 60 or over and lived in the Los Angeles County were analyzed for this purpose. The level of mental health was measured by the GDSSF-K (Generic Depression Scale Short Form-Korea Version) and personal, familial, and human capital traits were measured as socioeconomic natures of the respondents. Also, the social capital was measured by norm, trust, partnership in community, information sharing, and participation in community. This study conducted descriptive statistics analyses and multiple regression analyses to explore the determinants of mental health of the Korean American elderly. Although the level of mental health for the elderly was varied significantly according to their diverse socioeconomic as well as social capital natures, only age, subjective health status, norm, partnership in community, and information sharing participation were statistically significant predictors to the level of mental health in the total model. Policy and program implications and suggestions were delivered to help the Korean American elderly increase their social capital and finally enhance their level of mental health.
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KEYWORD
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Korean American elderly, Mental health, Socioeconomic characteristics, Social capital characteristics
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