Knowledge of depression among Korean American older adults

Yuri Jang, Amber M. Gum, David A. Chiriboga

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present study explored knowledge about depression and the factors that predict that knowledge in a sample of Korean American older adults (N = 675). Compared with other published results, knowledge of depression in the present sample was generally low. The participants provided on average only 42.6% correct answers on the 12-item Depression in Late Life Quiz, and for 9 items, more than 50% of the participants provided incorrect answers. In a multivariate linear regression, acculturation (β =.12, p <.01) and depressive symptoms (β = -.09, p <.05) were significant predictors of knowledge. Individuals with lower levels of acculturation had less knowledge of depression. An interesting finding was that those with higher levels of depressive symptoms exhibited poorer knowledge of depression. The study findings emphasized the need for educational interventions to be provided in order to improve the mental health literacy of Korean American older adults.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)655-665
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Applied Gerontology
Volume30
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2011

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant No. 1R21MH081094-01A1 ; principal investigator, Yuri Jang, PhD).

Keywords

  • Korean American older adults
  • acculturation
  • depressive symptoms
  • knowledge of depression

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Knowledge of depression among Korean American older adults'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this