The Effect of Housing Poverty on Subjective Health among the Elderly Living Alone: Double Mediating Effects of Self-Esteem and Depression

The purpose of this study is to empirically identify the magnitude and characteristics of residential poverty among the elderly living alone and to determine the mediating effects of self-esteem and depression on the effects of residential poverty on the subjective health of the elderly living alone. The analysis data used was secondary data from the 15th Korea Welfare Panel (KOWEPS) (2020). Among the panel survey data, 1,502 cases of seniors aged 65 or older living alone were finally analyzed as of 2020, the time of the survey. SPSS 23.0 and PROCESS Macro 3.5 were used for analysis, and the main research results are as follows. First, the level of residential poverty among elderly households living alone was approximately 1 out of 3 households. Second, health status was confirmed in terms of self-esteem, depression, and subjective health. As a result of the analysis, the average subjective health score was 2.7057 points on a 5-point scale, depression was 11.8635 points, and self-esteem was 2.8427 points on a 4-point scale. Third, as a result of controlling and analyzing demographic characteristics to determine how residential poverty affects the health of single-person elderly households, the effect of residential poverty on subjective health of single-person elderly households was statistically significant (β=-. 2295, p<.001), when self-esteem and depression were included, residential poverty no longer appeared to affect their subjective health (β=-.0418, p>.05), showing that residential poverty and subjective health It was found that depression and self-esteem each fully mediated the relationship. Fourth, as a result of verifying the size of the double mediating effect, it was found that the housing poverty (X) → self-esteem (M1) → depression (M2) → health (Y) path was significant as -.0479 (-.0674~-.0307). Based on these results, implications and development tasks for the residential welfare policy and service direction of elderly households living alone were presented.