중년층의 사회적 고립 양상과 연관 요인 - 1인 가구를 중심으로 -

초록

This study examines patterns of social isolation among middle-aged adults by conceptualizing social isolation as a multidimensional phenomenon combining loneliness, lack of support networks, satisfaction with interpersonal relationships, and sense of community belonging. Using data from the 2023 Korean Happiness Survey, 6,014 respondents aged 40 to 59 were analyzed through K-means cluster analysis, one-way ANOVA, and multinomial logistic regression. The results identified three patterns of social isolation: the stably connected group, the support-network-deficient group, and the emotionally and relationally vulnerable group. Subjective well-being differed significantly across these patterns: the stably connected group showed the highest levels of happiness and life satisfaction and the lowest level of depression, while the emotionally and relationally vulnerable group showed the highest level of depression. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that individuals living alone were more likely than those in multi-person households to belong to the support-network-deficient group, but not to the emotionally and relationally vulnerable group. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability of the support-network-deficient group after rank transformation, although latent profile analysis did not fully reproduce the K-means cluster structure. These findings should therefore be interpreted as exploratory. The study suggests that policies for middle-aged single-person households should focus on building practical support networks.

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