This study tested the relationship between stress and life satisfaction of retired older adults in South Korea as moderated by social support. The 2013 and 2014 Korean Retirement and Income Study (KReIS), nationally representative longitudinal datasets, were used to analyze 2,449 retired older adults (65+). Stress was measured in five dimensions: family, finance, health, housing-environment, and sense of loss. Social support was measured in four dimensions: emotional, informational, material, and appraisal support. Life satisfaction was composed of five items that solely focus on general satisfaction of daily life. Life satisfaction as a dependent variable was regressed on stress while controlling for age, education, cost-of-living allowance, and self-reported health. A moderating effect of social support was examined using hierarchical multiple regression analyses. To examine the significance of a moderating effect, we made an interaction term between stress and social support.Our results pointed to the ability of social support to moderate the relationship between stress and life satisfaction. A statistically significant increase in R-squared and the vanished effect of stress on life satisfaction after adding the interaction indicated the moderating effect of social support. Additionally, lower levels of stress and greater perceived social support were directly associated with higher levels of life satisfaction. Greater age, more education, better health, and financial security also had positive associations with life satisfaction. Policy implications of these findings for future generations of retired older adults who will be more likely to expect lower levels of social support due to demographic and economic changes are discussed.
展开▼
