A Study on the Relationships between Self-Differentiation and Adaptability Factors for Senior Dementia Patients Care Givers Department of Social Welfare, Seoul Welfare Graduate University Full-time Lecturer : Seong Hun Hyeong <Abstract> The focus of this study was on the self-differentiation level of families with an elderly member suffering from dementia. Based on 340 questionnaires collected in Seoul and Gyeonggi, the study intended to explain the adaptation issues of those families. The variables of interest, which might be related to the self-differentiation, were chronic anxiety(i.e. stress), the family function, psychosomatic symptoms and the family s adaptation to care-giving. As a result of analyzing the effects of the variables potentially related to the self-differentiation level of care-giving families, the findings from this study were as follow. With decreasing self-differentiation level of the family caring for an elderly member suffering from dementia, the levels of stress and psychosomatic symptoms were significantly increased, but the family function and the adaptation to care-giving tended to decrease. Conversely, with increasing self-differentiation, the levels of stress and psychosomatic symptoms were significantly decreased, while the family function and adaptation to care-giving were promoted. (self-differentiation), (family system), (fusion), (nuclear family), (family projection process) Corresponding Author : Seong Hun Hyeong, Department of Social Welfare, Seoul Welfare Graduate University, 134-2, Yeongdengpo-4ga, Yeongdengpo-gu, Seoul, 150-034, Korea Tel: +82-2635 Fax: +82-2-835-5554 E-mail: hsh2551@naver.com *. - 97 -

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