Attitude toward One's Own Aging among Korean Middle-aged Adults and the Elderly

Ahra Jo; Heeyoung Oh

doi:10.7469/kjan.2017.29.1.41

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Jo and Oh: Attitude toward One's Own Aging among Korean Middle-aged Adults and the Elderly

Original Article

Korean J Adult Nurs 2017;29(1):41-50.

Published online: NaN February 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7469/kjan.2017.29.1.41

Attitude toward One's Own Aging among Korean Middle-aged Adults and the Elderly

Ahra Jo, MSN, APN¹, Heeyoung Oh, Ph.D., RN^2,

^¹Doctoral Student, Graduate School of Nursing, Eulji University, Daejeon

^²Professor, College of Nursing, Eulji University, Daejeon, Korea

Corresponding author: Oh, Heeyoung College of Nursing, Eulji University, 771-77 Gyeryong-ro, Jung-gu, Daejeon 34824, Korea. Tel: +82-42-259-1713, Fax: +82-42-259-1709, E-mail: hoh123@eulji.ac.kr

Received 10 November 201629 December 2016 Accepted 19 February 2017

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare the factors influencing attitude toward one's own aging among Korean middle-aged adults and the elderly.

Methods

A cross sectional study was performed with a total sample of 70 middle-aged adults and 64 elderly reside in two metropolitan areas. Data were collected from August 2015 to November 2015 using the Perceived Health Status Scale, the Health Locus of Control Scale and the Attitude Toward own Aging (ATOA) Scale. The statistics used include percentage, t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression.

Results

Mean age for each age group were about 52 and 76 years old for middle-aged adults and the elderly respectively. A considerable proportion of all participants reported a negative attitude toward aging. Perceived health status was the common factor influencing attitude toward one's own aging in both age groups. Middle-aged adults identified presence of chronic illness and internal health locus of control as important factors. In contrast, the elderly reported that education and others-dependent health locus of control such as powerful others had a significant impact on ATOA. Each regression model explained 31% and 55% of the total variance of ATOA among middle-aged adults and among the elderly.

Conclusion

Both middle-aged adults and the elderly with low perceived health status are at risk of negative ATOA's. The type health locus of control need to be identified and utilized based on individuals’ tendency to improve positive ATOA. That is, middle-aged adults might need reinforcement of their self-will whereas the elderly might need enhancement of social support and network of family and healthcare providers.

Keywords: Aged, Aging, Internal-external control, Health status

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Table 1.

Attitude toward One's Own Aging by Sociodemographic Characteristics (N=134)

Characteristics	Categories	Attitude toward one's own aging
		Middle-aged (40~64, n=70)			The elderly (≥65, n=64)
		n (%)	M±SD	t (p)	n (%)	M±SD	t (p)
Gender	Male	14 (20.0)	15.64±2.76	-0.28 (.784)	20 (31.3)	12.70±3.01	-1.75 (.085)
Gender	Female	56 (80.0)	15.89±3.10		44 (68.7)	14.27±3.47
Having spouse	Yes	58 (82.9)	15.98±2.98	0.85 (.397)	35 (54.7)	13.66±2.90	-0.32 (.750)
Having spouse	No	12 (17.1)	15.17±3.22		29 (45.3)	13.93±3.95
Area of residence	Urban	65 (92.9)	16.05±2.92	-1.66 (.102)	48 (75.0)	14.19±3.34	-1.66 (.097)
Area of residence	Rural	5 (7.1)	13.20±3.27		16 (25.0)	12.56±3.35
Level of education	≤Junior high school	16 (22.9)	14.81±2.48	-1.57 (.120)	47 (73.4)	14.49±3.18	2.95 (.005)
Level of education	≥High school	54 (77.1)	16.15±3.11		17 (26.6)	11.82±3.26
Employment	Employed	62 (88.6)	15.83±2.85	-0.36 (.723)	14 (21.9)	14.71±2.87	-0.29 (.769)
Employment	Not employed	8 (11.4)	15.75±4.33		50 (78.1)	14.08±3.46
Religion	Yes	44 (62.9)	15.43±3.04	-1.50 (.139)	44 (68.8)	13.52±3.06	-0.90 (.369)
Religion	No	26 (37.1)	16.54±2.90		20 (31.2)	14.35±4.04
Living arrangement	With others	64 (91.4)	15.92±3.02	-0.51 (.630)	42 (65.6)	14.15±3.51	-1.04 (.297)
Living arrangement	Alone	6 (8.6)	15.00±3.10		22 (34.4)	14.36±3.05
Chronic illness	Yes	20 (28.6)	14.40±2.39	2.64 (.010)	49 (76.6)	13.67±3.55	0.46 (.649)
Chronic illness	No	50 (71.4)	16.42±3.07		15 (23.4)	14.13±2.88

Table 2.

Attitude toward One's Own Aging for the Middle-aged and the Elderly (N=134)

Variables	Categories	Attitude toward one's own aging						t (p)
		Strongly disagree	Disagree	Undecided	Agree	Strongly agree	M±SD
		n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Do things keep getting worse as you get older?	Middle-aged	3 (4.3)	22 (31.4)	11 (15.7)	34 (48.6)	0 (0.0)	2.91±0.99
Do things keep getting worse as you get older?	The elderly	2 (3.1)	12 (18.8)	11 (17.2)	31 (48.4)	8 (12.5)	2.55±1.05
Do you have as much pep as you had last year?	Middle-aged	1 (1.4)	36 (51.4)	16 (22.9)	16 (22.9)	1 (1.4)	2.71±0.89
Do you have as much pep as you had last year?	The elderly	5 (7.8)	34 (53.1)	11 (17.2)	12 (18.8)	2 (3.1)	2.56±0.99
Do you feel that as you get older you are less useful?	Middle-aged	9 (12.9)	37 (52.9)	14 (20.0)	9 (12.8)	1 (1.4)	3.63±0.92
Do you feel that as you get older you are less useful?	The elderly	1 (1.5)	29 (45.3)	9 (14.1)	16 (25.0)	9 (14.1)	2.95±1.16
As you get older, are things better than you thought they would be?	Middle-aged	1 (1.4)	26 (37.1)	17 (24.3)	23 (32.9)	3 (4.3)	3.01±0.97
	The elderly	1 (1.6)	34 (53.1)	13 (20.3)	11 (17.2)	5 (7.8)	2.77±1.02
Are you as happy now as you were when you were younger?	Middle-aged	1 (1.4)	8 (11.4)	13 (18.6)	46 (65.7)	2 (2.9)	3.57±0.79
Are you as happy now as you were when you were younger?	The elderly	5 (7.8)	24 (37.5)	13 (20.3)	13 (20.3)	9 (14.1)	2.95±1.21
Total	Middle-aged						15.84±3.02	-3.71
Total	The elderly						13.78±3.39	(＜.001)

Inverse coding was performed for negative statements.

Table 3.

Relationships among Perceived Health Status, Health Locus of Control and Attitude towards One's Own Aging (N=134)

Variables	Categories	Attitude toward one's own aging	Perceived health status	Health locus of control
		Attitude toward one's own aging	Perceived health status	Internal	Ohers-dependent	By chance
		r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)
Middle-aged (40~64 years old) (n=70)	Attitude toward	1
	one's own aging
	Perceived	.42 (＜.001)	1
	health status
	Internal HLC	.33 (.002)	.22 (.037)	1
	Others-dependent	.27 (.011)	.13 (.150)	.13 (.151)	1
	HLC
	By chance HLC	-.03 (.415)	-.01 (.470)	-.19 (.063)	.37 (.001)	1
The elderly (≥65 years old) (n=64)	Attitude toward	1
	one's own aging
	Perceived	.66 (＜.001)	1
	health status
	Internal HLC	.03 (.421)	.31 (.007)	1
	Others-dependent	-.18 (.078)	.13 (.148)	.33 (.003)	1
	HLC
	By chance HLC	-.09 (.248)	.06 (.315)	.41 (＜.05)	.49 (＜.001)	1

HLC=health locus of control.

Table 4.

Impact of Sociodemographic Characteristics, Perceived Health Status, Health Locus of Control on Attitude towards One's Own Aging (N=134)

Categories	Attitude toward one's own aging
	Middle-aged (40~64 years old, n=70)				The elderly (≥65 years old, n=64)
	B	SE	β	p	B	SE	β	p
Education	0.17	.80	-.02	.834	-1.35	.71	.20	.038
Chronic illness	-1.23	.77	.19	.113	0.92	.73	-.12	.211
Perceived health status	0.41	.17	.28	.015	0.94	.13	.69	＜.001
Internal HLC	0.17	.08	.23	.038	-0.07	.07	-.09	.343
Others-dependent HLC	0.16	.08	.21	.056	-0.18	.07	-.24	.013
F (p)		5.83 (＜.001)				14.39 (＜.001)
R²		.31				.55
Adjusted R²		.26				.52
Durbin-Watson		2.29				2.37

HLC=health locus of control.

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