Majority of the depression patients in Korea are married women in their 40s~50s. According to the studies, married women in 40s~50s suffer from depression more than other groups because at this time they realize that they have been preoccupied by their role as a wife, mother and housewife in the family and forgotten who they are as a result. They get to realize that they are excluded from their own life.
Then, when is the critical time in married women's life when their ego-identity starts to be lowered? This study set the hypothesis that married women's ego-identity starts to change around the time they give birth to their children. Thus, this study researched whether or not married women's ego-identity changes before and after their child-birth and other variables for the change in their ego-identity.
The results are as follows: First, when compared with married women with no children, married women who just became parents showed lower ego-identity, especially in the areas of initiativeness and confirmativeness for future. After child birth, married women tend to come back to the role as a traditional Korean mother which comes with sacrifice and devotion, even with higher education level and career success. And their ego-identity becomes lower accordingly.
Second, No significant differences in ego-identity level were shown between married women with chidren and married women without children when conpared according to their age, education level, monthly income and whether or not they have jobs. In other words, variables such as age, education level, monthly income and job existence do not significantly influence married women's ego-identity.
Third, married women in parenthood showed lower marital satisfaction when compared to married women without children. And those who showed higher marital satisfaction among the married women in parenthood also showed higher ego-identity level. Therefore, marital satisfaction along with child-birth significantly influences married women's ego-identity.
Last, among the married women in parenthood, those who have lower ego-identity level showed higher parent stress level. Studies showed that higher parental stress level can negatively influence children's identity formation, personality and interpersonal relation as the possibility of children's higher anxiety level increases.
Family counseling is recommended as a method to help the married women in parenthood with their lowered ego-identity. A family counselor should be a healthy object who can give a lot of positive energy to married women in parenthood to restore their lowered ego-identity. And couple counselling can also be recommended as a method of boosting marital satisfaction by assisting a husband and a wife to be built up as a significant other to each other.
Couple counselling can be possible only when baby sitting is provided to free up women's time. Accordingly, more daycare facilities should be established. Family counseling programs for ego-identity of married women in parenthood can be added to toddlers' schools and parenting schools, which married women with children often actively participate in.
This study examined five variables which can affect married women's ego-identity. Further studies are necessary to research other variables that influence married's women's ego-identity..