A Study on the Relation Between Self Care Agency and Mental Health in Vocational High School Students

일 실업계 고등학생의 자가간호역량과 정신건강과의 관계 연구

This study was designed to identify the relation between Self-care Agency and mental health in vocational high school students of a rural area. The subjects for this study were 210 students living in Chonnam province: the breakdown of first, second and third grade students were 74, 78 and 58 respectively. The data were collected from April 1 to 4, 1997. The instruments used in this study were the Self-Care Agency Questionnaire developed by Deneys (1981) and the simplified SCL-90 developed by Lee, H. K. (1986) for measuring Mental Health. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation using the SAS $PC^+$ Program. The results were as follows: 1. The mean score of the Self-care Agency was 2.43. 2. The mean score of Mental Health was 2.11. 3. There were significant differences in sex (t=6.13, p= .014), religion (t=4.65, p= .032), the educational level of the father (F=3.62, p= .032), economic status (F=5.90, p= .003), and school performance (F=5.94, p= .003) with respect to selfeare agenecy. 4. There were significant differences in dwelling place (t=3.18, p= .025), economic status (F=4.55, p= .012), school performance (F=6.72, p= .002) and health problems (t= 5.41, p= .021) with respect to mental health. 5. The relationship between self care agency and mental health revealed a significant correlation (r=- .24, p= .005). The results showed that a low level of self care agency has an effect on mental health. We need an effective health education program to promote mental health.