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. 2020 Jun 18;17(12):4380. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17124380

Table 1.

Distribution of intergenerational social support exchange and prevalence of depressive symptoms among older men (n = 3592) and older women (n = 3939) in the 2017 Korean Living Profile Survey of Older People.

Older Men Older Women P All Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms (% or Mean ± SD)
Older Men Older Women P All
N Weighted % N Weighted % N Weighted %
N= 3592 3939 7531 12.5 16.5 p < 0.001 14.6
2.96 ± 3.45 3.54 ± 3.73 3.27 ± 3.62
Emotional support exchange ** ** **
No exchange 1082 30.3 755 19.1 p < 0.01 1837 24.3 18.4 25.4 p < 0.001 21.3
Receiving support only 316 8.8 389 10.3 705 9.6 14.0 25.1 20.3
Providing support only 112 3.1 98 2.4 210 2.7 10.1 21.9 15.5
Mutual support 2082 57.8 2697 68.2 4779 63.4 9.2 12.5 11.1
Instrumental support exchange
No exchange 1838 51.4 1584 40.7 p < 0.01 3422 45.7 12.5 17.7 p < 0.001 14.8
Receiving support only 1142 31.7 1121 29.3 2263 30.5 12.8 15.7 14.3
Providing support only 171 4.7 306 7.3 477 6.1 8.1 14.0 11.9
Mutual support 441 12.1 928 22.6 1369 17.7 13.2 16.7 15.5
Caring support exchange
No exchange 2596 72.5 2406 61.1 p < 0.01 5002 66.4 12.0 16.5 0.031 14.2
Receiving support only 767 21.2 1157 29.7 1924 25.7 14.3 16.6 15.7
Providing support only 39 1.1 64 1.6 103 1.3 9.8 22.7 17.9
Mutual support 190 5.2 312 7.7 502 6.5 12.7 14.7 13.9
Financial support exchange ** ** **
No exchange 272 4.5 205 3.0 p < 0.01 477 3.7 33.7 32.6 0.011 33.2
Receiving support only 2199 60.1 2663 66.3 4862 63.4 14.4 17.9 16.3
Providing support only 41 1.4 32 0.9 73 1.2 8.7 24.2 15.4
Mutual support 1080 34.0 1039 29.7 2119 31.7 6.5 11.4 8.9
Age (Mean ± SD) 72.94 ± 5.87 72.24 ± 5.63 72.57 ± 5.76 ** ** **
65–74 2271 63.4 2714 67.2 p < 0.01 4985 65.5 11.1 14.8 0.176 13.1
74–85 1165 32.7 1100 29.5 2265 31 15.4 20.8 18.1
85 and over 156 3.9 125 3.3 281 3.5 11.6 16.0 13.6
Place of residence ** **
Urban 2367 68.0 2663 70.4 0.127 5031 69.2 13.1 16.7 0.784 15.1
Rural 1225 32.0 1276 29.6 2500 30.8 10.9 15.6 13.4
Education ** ** **
High school and over 1451 40.1 753 18.5 p < 0.01 2204 28.6 9.0 10.0 p < 0.001 9.3
Middle school 778 21.7 662 16.5 1440 18.9 12.0 11.5 11.7
Primary school and less 1363 38.2 2524 64.9 3887 52.4 16.7 19.8 18.7
Equivalent household income ** ** **
1st 33.3% (highest) 1451 40.1 1346 32.6 p <0.001 2797 36.1 7.1 10.2 0.753 8.6
2nd 33.3% 1192 33.2 1364 34.6 2556 34.0 12.5 16.0 14.4
3rd 33.3% 949 26.7 1229 32.7 2178 29.9 20.8 24.0 22.6
Living arrangements ** ** **
Living alone 335 10.5 1167 32.6 p < 0.001 1502 22.3 16.1 13.2 p < 0.001 13.8
Living with partner only 2345 64.7 1687 41.4 4032 52.3 5.0 7.0 5.9
Living with adult-children 782 21.3 955 22.9 1737 22.1 7.0 10.6 9.0
Living with others 130 3.5 129 3.1 259 3.3 7.7 11.6 9.7
Number of chronic diseases ** ** **
None 590 16.5 374 9.4 p < 0.001 964 12.7 7.3 3.5 p < 0.001 5.8
One 808 22.4 621 15.7 1429 18.8 7.3 7.2 7.2
Two and over 2194 61.1 2944 74.9 5138 68.5 15.9 20.1 18.3
Number of friends in close contact ** ** **
None 1430 39.7 1413 35.9 p < 0.001 2843 37.6 18.2 25.3 0.066 21.7
One 622 17.4 847 21.6 1468 19.7 11.3 16.2 14.1
Two and over 1540 42.9 1679 42.5 3219 42.7 7.8 9.3 8.6
Number of siblings and relatives in close contact ** ** **
None 1962 54.6 1811 46.2 p < 0.001 3773 50.1 16.0 22.8 0.105 19.2
One 845 23.6 1174 29.9 2019 26.9 10.3 12.8 11.7
Two and over 785 21.9 954 23.9 1739 23.0 6.4 9.2 7.9
Social participation ** ** **
Yes 2950 81.4 3467 87.7 p < 0.001 6417 84.8 10.4 14.6 p < 0.001 12.7
No 642 18.6 472 12.3 1114 15.2 21.8 30.1 25.3
Working status ** ** **
Yes 1526 42.6 1160 29.9 p < 0.001 2686 35.8 7.1 11.7 0.257 9.1
No 2066 57.4 2779 70.1 4845 64.2 16.6 18.5 17.7

* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01 for differences among the levels of each variable. SD: standard deviation.