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Kim: Effects of Death Anxiety and Meaning of Life on Somatization of Grandparent Raising Grandchildren
Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing 2015; 45(2): 262-270.

Published online: 30 April 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2015.45.2.262

Effects of Death Anxiety and Meaning of Life on Somatization of Grandparent Raising Grandchildren

Se-Young Kim

Christian College of Nursing, Gwangju, Korea.

Address reprint requests to: Kim, Se-Young. Christian College of Nursing, 70 beon gil, Baekseo-ro, Nam-gu, Gwangju 503-711, Korea. Tel: +82-62-650-8069, Fax: +82-62-675-5806, seyeong77@hanmail.net

Received 30 August 2014       Revised 24 September 2014       Accepted 25 January 2015

© 2015 Korean Society of Nursing Science

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivs License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/) If the original work is properly cited and retained without any modification or reproduction, it can be used and re-distributed in any format and medium.

Abstract

Purpose

This study was conducted in order to examine the effects of death anxiety and meaning of life on somatization of grandparents raising grandchildren.

Methods

A convenience sample of 92 elderly grandparents raising grandchildren was recruited. The study instrument for death anxiety was the 5-point 15 items scale designed by Templer and translated by Ko, Choi, & Lee and for meaning of life, the 7-point 10-items scale by Steger, Frazier, Oishi & Kaler and translated by Won, Kim & Kwon. For somatization, the 5-point 12 items scale designed by Derogatis and translated by Kim, Kim & Won was used. Collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson Correlation and regression using the SPSS 21.0 program.

Results

Average scores were 3.55 for death anxiety, 3.43 for meaning of life, and 2.74 for somatization. Death anxiety had the highest positive correlation with somatization. Meaning of life was negatively correlated with death anxiety and somatization. Death anxiety and health status were shown to influence somatization but meaning of life was not shown to influence somatization.

Conclusion

The research results indicate that death anxiety and health status influence somatization in grandparents raising grandchildren. These results also provide basic information on the importance of nursing interventions in which the variables influencing somatization in grandparents raising grandchildren are considered.

Keywords: Death, Anxiety, Life, Meaning, Somatization

Figures and Tables

Table 1

General Characteristics of Subjects (N=92)

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Table 2

Degree of Death Anxiety, Life Meaning, Somatization

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Table 3

Differences of Death Anxiety, Life Meaning, Somatization by General Characteristics (N=92)

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Table 4

Correlation among Death Anxiety, Life Meaning, and Somatization (N=92)

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Table 5

Factors Influencing on Somatization (N=92)

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