이홍자1, 김춘미1, 이도현2

1선문대학교 건강보건대학 간호학과, 2인디애나대학교 보건대학원

Background: According to the 2013 statistics, The prevalence rate of depression of women was twice compare
to man. Especially, about 53% of depression patients were women over age 40. So this study was conducted
to analyze whether women’s depression is influenced by their socio‐demographic characteristics, life stress,
and social support.
Methods: This study was a descriptive survey, and data were collected during the period from the 1st to 31st of
August in 2015, using a self‐reporting questionnaire from 196 women aged between 40 and 60 who were sampled
from an urban area through convenient sampling.
Results: First, among the sub‐factors of life stress, health‐related & role conflict stress were highest. And life
stress was higher when social support was low. Second, social support was higher when exercise was done
regularly. Lastly, the results of structural equation modeling analysis showed that life stress and social support
had a significant effect on depression. Life stress had a significant direct effect on social support, and social
support had a significant direct effect on depression. Life stress had an indirect effect on depression through the
medium of social support, and their explanatory power was R2＝0.68 and R2＝0.64, respectively.
Conclusions: This study confirmed that depression was in a very close relationship with life stress and social
support. This finding suggests that future health policies for managing middle‐aged women’s depression
should focus on reducing life stress and reinforcing their social support.
Korean J Health Promot 2016;16(1):1-10
Keywords: Women, Stress, Social support, Depression