I Am Not Supposed to Be Treated Like This: Associations Between Age Discrimination, Perceived Social Respect for Older Adults, and Depressive Symptoms in Korean Older Adults

Objectives This study examines the relationships between age discrimination, perceived social respect for older adults as a proxy of perceived social climate, and depressive symptoms in older adults in Korea. In doing so, it clarifies whether and how age discrimination has a differential effect on mental health, depending on the level of perceived social respect. Methods This study uses multiple regression analyses to examine the data obtained from the 2020 National Survey of Older Koreans, a nationally representative survey. Results Findings show that age discrimination was positively associated with depressive symptoms, whereas perceived social respect for older adults was negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Older respondents exhibited fewer depressive symptoms if they felt that older adults were respected in Korea. The results also revealed a significant interaction between age discrimination and perceived social respect; age discrimination had a more harmful impact on depressive symptoms in older adults with a higher level of perceived social respect. Discussion The findings suggest that a positive social climate for older adults is beneficial to their mental health, but ironically, it may form a more stressful context for older adults who experience age discrimination that is characteristically opposite from their subjective evaluation of that social climate. The gap between the expected social climate and individual discriminatory experiences may have a deleterious effect on the mental health of older adults.