Although separated by the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, historical, economic, and political ties connect Asia, Oceania, and the United States. The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) is committed to promoting relations within the Asia-Pacific region and between the region and the United States. In keeping with this mission, it established the Stanford Kyoto Trans-Asian Dialogue in 2009.

The annual Dialogue addresses timely issues of mutual concern and interest to Asia-Pacific countries and the United States. Shorenstein APARC held its second annual Dialogue in Kyoto, Japan, September 9–10, 2010. The first Dialogue, held in September 2009, examined the interplay between energy, the environment, and economic growth in Asia. This second annual Dialogue addressed questions related to the regional integration of East Asia, both present and future. Shorenstein APARC brought together scholars and subject experts from nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States for an exchange of diverse views on this important topic.

To facilitate more open dialogue, the presentations and discussions during the two-day event were closed. The following report summarizes the proceedings of these sessions.

The objective of this paper is to estimate the causal effect of coresidence with an adult child on depressive symptoms among older widowed women in South Korea. Data from the first and second waves of the Korea Longitudinal Study of Aging were used. Analysis was restricted to widowed women aged ≥ 65 years with at least one living child (N=2,449). We use an instrumental variable approach that exploits the cultural setting where number of sons predicts the probability of an elderly woman's coresidence with an adult child but is not directly correlated with the mother's depressive symptoms. Our models adjust for age, education, total assets, residence, functional limitations, self-rated health, and various illnesses. Our robust estimation results indicate that, among older widowed women, coresidence with an adult child has a significant protective effect on depressive symptoms, but that this effect does not necessarily benefit those with clinically relevant depressive symptoms. Future demographic and social transitions in South Korea portend that older women’s increasing vulnerability to poor mental health is an important though less visible public health challenge.
Keywords: living arrangements, coresidence, depressive symptomatology, elderly, KLoSA

Published: Do, Young Kyung, and Chetna Malhotra. "The effect of coresidence with an adult child on depressive symptoms among older widowed women in South Korea: an instrumental variables estimation." The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 67.3 (2012): 384-391.