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Abstract
Objectives
The aim of this study was to identify mental health of parents in single parent families according to sociodemographic variables and then to identify analyzed sociodemographic factors affecting their mental health.
Methods
The study participants included 291 parents in single parent families registered at Yangcheon-gu. They accomplished a self-report questionnaire, which included sociodemographic characteristics and self-rating scales ; Global Assessment of Recent Stress (GARS), The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D), Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI-Beck), and The Korean Version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-K). First, we identified mental health of parents in single parent families according to sociodemographic variables by independent T test or ANOVA. Second, ANCOVA was used for determination of sociodemographic variables affecting mental health of parents in single parent families after adjusting other significant sociodemographic variables.
Results
Among sociodemographic variables, structure of family, age, occupation, type of residence, and monthly income had a significant effect on mental health of parents in single parent families. In families with an unmarried mother and unemployed, scores for GARS, CES-D, SSI-Beck, and AUDIT-K were significantly higher, while these scores were significantly lower in subjects whose monthly income was over 3 million won.
Conclusion
Results of this study demonstrate that parents in single parent families were vulnerable to mental health problems, especially unmarried mothers, families, and unemployed. We should try to provide practical support in order to reduce social burden and provide earlier psychological interventions in order to reduce distress for single parent families.
Figures and Tables
Table 1
Sociodemographic characteristics of single parent family members (n=291) and comparisons of GARS, CES-D, SSI-Beck and AUDIT-K scores based on the sociodemographic factors
*: p or adjusted p<0.05, **: p or adjusted p<0.01, ***: p or adjusted p<0.001. Analysis of variance and analysis of covarince (structure family, age, occupation, residence, and monthly income as covariates) were used, t : t-test, GARS : Global Assessment of Recent Stress, CES-D : Center for Epidemiologic Studies- Depression, SSI-Beck : Scale for Suicidal Ideation, AUDIT-K : The Korean version of Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test, SD : Standard deviation
Table 2
Comparison of Global Assessment of Recent Stress (GARS), Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D), Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI-Beck) and The Korean version of Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-K) between single parent family members and general populations in Yangcheon-gu
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