한국 중·노년의 번영과 침체 : 세대와 정신적 웰빙 범주에 따른 심리사회적 특성 비교

초록

Purpose This study examined differences in life satisfaction, life meaning, social connectedness, anxiety, and depression between Korean middle-aged and older adults across three mental well-being categories(languishing, moderate, flourishing) to identify their psychosocial characteristics. Methods An online survey was conducted with a total of 600 participants, including 300 middle-aged and 300 older adults, and chi-square tests and multivariate analysis of covariance(MANCOVA) were performed. Results Middle-aged adults were more likely than older adults to fall into the languishing group and less likely to belong to the flourishing group, suggesting greater psychological vulnerability. MANCOVA revealed significant main effects of generation and mental well-being category, as well as a significant interaction effect between them. In univariate analyses, older adults reported significantly higher life satisfaction and meaning in life than middle-aged adults. Furthermore, all dependent variables differed significantly by mental well-being categories. Finally, a significant interaction effect on social connectedness was found: the generational difference was significant only in the languishing category, in which only on the languishing category, in which middle-aged adults reported higher social connectedness than older adults. Conclusion These results suggest that intervention strategies for mental health in middle and older adulthood should comprehensively consider generational characteristics and levels of mental well-being.

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