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HOME > J Korean Acad Community Health Nurs > Volume 26(1); 2015 > Article
Original Article
The Effect of Abuse Experience and Coping Styles on Suicidal Ideation in the Elderly
Jeong Hee Jeong, Jung Soon Kim
Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing 2015;26(1):42-51.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2015.26.1.42
Published online: March 31, 2015

1Department of Nursing, Daedong College, Busan, Korea.

2College of Nursing, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Korea.

• Received: February 11, 2015   • Revised: March 19, 2015   • Accepted: March 24, 2015

© 2015 Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing

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.

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  • Purpose
    The aim of this study is to determine the impact of abuse experience and coping styles on suicidal ideation in Korean elders.
  • Methods
    Data were collected from the 2011 Korean National Survey on the Elderly. The participants were 10,537 elders aged 65 or older who had replied to the question on suicidal ideation. Socio-demographic and health related factors, abuse experience, and coping style were included as the influence factors of suicidal ideation. Data were analyzed using x2-test and logistic stepwise regression with the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program.
  • Results
    The prevalence of abuse experience among the elders was 12.7% and that of suicidal ideation was 11.2%. Elders with abuse experience (OR=2.79, 95% CI=2.39~3.26) were more likely to have suicidal ideation but those with an active coping style (OR=0.69, 95% CI=0.57~0.84) were less likely to have suicidal ideation even with other influence factors controlled.
  • Conclusion
    Abuse experience of the elderly was a major risk factor that increased suicidal ideation, and active coping style was a protective factor that reduced suicidal ideation. These findings show that careful attention to elderly abuse and education for active coping style are necessary to reduce suicidal ideation among the elderly.
  • Key Words: Elder abuse; Suicidal ideation; Aged
Table 1

Differences in Suicidal Ideation according to Socio-demographics and Health related Factors, Abuse Experiences and Coping in Elderly (N=10,537)

Characteristics Categories n (%) Suicidal ideation χ2 p
Yes No
Suicidal ideation Yes 1,180 (11.2)
No 9,357 (88.8)
Abuse experiences Yes 1,335 (12.7) 350 (26.2) 985 (73.8) 346.58 <.001
 Physical abuse 52 (0.5)
 Emotional abuse 990 (9.4)
 Financial abuse 153 (1.5)
 Neglect (caring) 145 (1.4)
 Neglect (financial) 262 (2.5)
No 9,200 (87.3) 830 (9.0) 8,370 (91.0)
Coping with abuse Passive (patience) 3,820 (36.5) 476 (12.5) 3,344 (87.5) 33.63 <.001
Active (asking help) 2,364 (22.6) 186 (7.9) 2,178 (92.1)
Aggressive (accusation) 4,281 (40.9) 500 (11.7) 3,781 (88.3)
Gender Male 4,546 (43.1) 449 (9.9) 4,097 (90.1) 14.04 <.001
Female 5,991 (56.9) 731 (12.2) 5,260 (87.8)
Age (year) 65~74 5,892 (55.9) 654 (11.1) 5,238 (88.9) 0.14 .705
≥75 4,641 (44.1) 526 (11.3) 4,115 (88.7)
Educational level None 3,323 (31.5) 440 (13.2) 2,883 (86.8) 20.80 <.001
Elementary school 3,743 (35.5) 375 (10.0) 3,368 (90.0)
≥Middle school 3,471 (32.9) 365 (10.5) 3.106 (89.5)
Family type Elderly couple 5,119 (48.6) 472 (9.2) 4,647 (90.8) 55.01 <.001
Live alone 2,086 (19.8) 315 (15.1) 1,771 (84.9)
Children living together 2,845 (27.0) 328 (11.5) 2,517 (88.5)
Others 487 (4.6) 66 (13.6) 421 (86.4)
Spouse Yes 7,118 (67.6) 704 (9.9) 6,414 (90.1) 37.81 <.001
No 3,418 (32.4) 476 (13.9) 2,942 (86.1)
Economic status 1 (low) 2,111 (20.0) 345 (16.3) 1,766 (83.7) 97.08 <.001
2 2,121 (20.1) 249 (11.7) 1,872 (88.3)
3 2,100 (19.9) 227 (10.8) 1,873 (89.2)
4 2,112 (20.0) 214 (10.1) 1,898 (89.9)
5 (high) 2,093 (19.9) 145 (6.9) 1,948 (93.1)
Frequency of meeting families Everyday 381 (3.6) 40 (10.5) 341 (89.5) 47.90 <.001
2 to 3 times a week 578 (5.5) 50 (8.7) 528 (91.3)
1 to 2 times a month 3,524 (33.6) 299 (8.5) 3,225 (91.5)
1 to 2 times a year 6,014 (57.3) 776 (12.9) 5,238 (87.1)
Frequency of meeting friends Everyday 4,558 (43.3) 480 (10.5) 4,078 (89.5) 42.62 <.001
2 to 3 times a week 3,472 (33.0) 350 (10.1) 3,122 (89.9)
1 to 2 times a month 1,723 (16.4) 205 (11.9) 1,518 (88.1)
1 to 2 times a year 762 (7.2) 137 (18.0) 625 (82.0)
Depression Yes 3,068 (29.2) 794 (25.9) 2,274 (74.1) 936.31 <.001
No 7,448 (70.8) 385 (5.2) 7,063 (94.8)
Number of chronic diseases ≤1 3,162 (30.0) 202 (6.4) 2,960 (93.6) 143.75 <.001
2~3 4,597 (43.6) 529 (11.5) 4,068 (88.5)
≥4 2,778 (26.4) 450 (16.2) 2,328 (83.8)
Restriction of activity Yes 1,090 (10.3) 226 (20.7) 864 (79.3) 111.15 <.001
No 9,447 (89.7) 954 (10.1) 8,493 (89.9)
Table 2

Impact of Abuse Experiences and Coping on Suicidal Ideation in Elderly (N =10,537)

Characteristics Categories Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
OR 95% CI OR 95% CI OR 95% CI
Abuse experiences No 1 1 1
Yes 3.54 3.07~4.09*** 3.21 2.77~3.72*** 2.79 2.39~3.26***
Coping with abuse Passive (patience) 1 1 1
Active (asking help) 0.62 0.52~0.74*** 0.68 0.56~0.81*** 0.69 0.57~0.84***
Aggressive (accusation) 0.94 0.82~1.08 1.02 0.89~1.18 1.09 0.94~1.27
Gender Male 1 1
Female 1.22 1.04~1.42* 1.12 0.95~1.32
Educational level None 1 1
Elementary 0.93 0.79~1.09 1.06 0.90~1.26
≥Middle 1.07 0.88~1.28 1.45 1.20~1.77***
Family type Elderly couple 1 1
Live alone 1.41 1.06~1.88* 1.42 1.05~1.90*
Children living together 1.84 1.49~2.26*** 1.49 1.19~1.86***
others 1.41 1.03~1.93* 1.21 0.87~1.68
Spouse Yes 1 1
No 0.84 0.66~1.07 0.81 0.63~1.04
Economic status 1 (low) 3.13 2.38~4.10*** 1.78 1.33~2.38***
2 2.37 1.83~3.07*** 1.53 1.17~2.01**
3 2.22 1.73~2.84*** 1.71 1.31~2.21***
4 1.71 1.35~2.17*** 1.44 1.12~1.84**
5 (high) 1 1
Frequency of meeting families Everyday 0.79 0.54~1.14 0.89 0.61~1.31
2 to 3 times a week 0.80 0.59~1.09 0.96 0.69~1.32
1 to 2 times a month 0.73 0.63~0.85*** 0.90 0.77~1.05
1 to 2 times a year 1 1
Frequency of meeting friends Everyday 0.58 0.46~0.73*** 0.86 0.67~1.09
2 to 3 times a week 0.57 0.45~0.72*** 0.78 0.61~0.99*
1 to 2 times a month 0.74 0.57~0.95* 0.91 0.70~1.18
1 to 2 times a year 1 1
Depression No 1
Yes 5.05 4.35~5.85***
Number of chronic diseases 0~1 1
2~3 1.39 1.15~1.67***
≥4 1.61 1.32~1.96***
Restriction of activity No 1
Yes 1.28 1.06~1.53**

*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001.

This study was supported by the Research Institute of Nursing Science, Pusan National University.

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    Citations to this article as recorded by  
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