‘중년 1인가구’ 연구에 대한 체계적 문헌고찰 -국내 양적연구(2017∼2023년)를 중심으로- = A Systematic Review of Literature on the Study of ‘Middle-aged Single-person Households’ - Focusing on domestic quantitative research(2017∼2023) -

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study systematically analyzed quantitative research on middle-aged single-person households published in academic journals in the area of social sciences and interdisciplinary studies through July 2024 to propose practical approaches and policy directions for this demographic.
Following the PRISMA flow methodology, literature was collected from three databases using combined search terms ‘single-person household ‘AND ‘middleaged’, and after quality assessment, 28 articles were selected for final analysis.
The key findings are threefold: First, following the initial publication on middle-aged single-person households in 2017, 18 of the 28 articles were published after 2020. 26 studies utilized secondary panel data, comprising 3 longitudinal studies and 25 cross-sectional studies. Second, dependent variables were categorized into five domains: ‘mental health’, ‘social activity’, ‘life stability’, ‘physical health status’, and ‘housing satisfaction’. Mental healthrelated studies were predominant. Analysis of factors influencing mental health revealed that social relationship satisfaction, economic activity status, and psychological state-related variables were significant predictors. Research on the other four dependent variables was insufficient to determine the significance of independent variables. Third, the necessary support systems identified in the literature include: development of qualitative social networks, employment and retirement policy formulation, physical and mental health promotion support, housing stability assistance, individualized policy interventions, and establishment of an integrated delivery system.
Based on these findings, the study discusses recommendations for future research directions and presents practical and policy support measures through social work perspective for middle-aged single-person households.