A Study on Sociodemographic and Psychological Factors Affecting the Quality of Life in Urban-Dwelling Single Mothers.
10.4306/jknpa.2016.55.2.114
- Author:
Ga Eun KIM
1
;
Hee Yeon CHOI
;
Eui Jung KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea. christie@ewha.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Quality of life;
Single-parent family;
Mothers;
Socioeconomic factors;
Depression;
Alcoholism
- MeSH:
Alcoholism;
Depression;
Divorce;
Epidemiologic Studies;
Humans;
Korea;
Mothers*;
Psychology*;
Quality of Life*;
Single-Parent Family;
Socioeconomic Factors;
Suicidal Ideation;
Weights and Measures;
World Health Organization
- From:Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association
2016;55(2):114-121
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine socio-demographic and psychological variables and the correlation of their factors with quality of life (QOL) in urban-dwelling single mothers. METHODS: Participants were 195 single mothers living in an urban community in South Korea. Participants completed self-report questionnaires examining socio-demographic characteristics and including the following self-rating scales : the global assessment of recent stress, the center for epidemiologic studies depression scale, the scale for suicidal ideation, the Korean version of the alcohol use disorder identification test, and the World Health Organization QOL assessment instrument. RESULTS: Regarding socio-demographic variables, high educational level (p=0.009), high monthly income (p<0.001), living in own house (p<0.001), and divorced or separated on economic grounds (p<0.001) showed significantly high QOL in single mothers. Age (r=0.208, p=0.004) showed significant positive correlation with QOL ; stress (r=-0.254, p<0.001), depressive symptoms (r=-0.314, p<0.001), suicidal ideation (r=-0.217, p<0.001), and alcohol-related problems (r=-0.363, p<0.001) showed significant negative correlation with QOL. In multiple regression analysis, alcohol-related problems, financial cause of single motherhood, depressive symptoms, and income explained 37.7% of variance in total QOL. CONCLUSION: Interventions to promote QOL of single mothers should reduce the social burden and psychological problems on single mothers. Specifically, interventions providing psychological support should target new single mothers in order to reduce distress in single-mother families.
