• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.37-61
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• 2009

The diagnosis of breast cancer can have a significant impact upon all family members in psychological and practical aspects. The impact of breast cancer may have a particularly strong impact on the spouse and the marital relationship. Breast cancer can alter the couple's emotional balance, finances, division of responsibilities and social activities. However, little empirical evidence exists investigating support-related exchanges between patient and spouse in Korea. Therefore, it is meaningful to address psychosocial effect and change of marital relationship in context of breast cancer. This article reviews 34 studies (1987-2009) on marital relationship in the context of breast cancer. Results indicate that the psychosocial impact of breast cancer on the healthy spouse and patient, spouse's effects on quality of life, adaptation, distress of breast cancer patients, and impact of breast cancer on marital relationship. Several recommendations can be made for oncology health professionals working with families of cancer patients such as the need for longitudinal and comprehensive study

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.377-388
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on depression, anxiety, self care behavior and quality of life in cancer patients. Methods: Two thousand and eighty three abstracts were identified through six electronic databases (1980 to June 2012) in Korea. Seventeen studies involving 679 participants met the inclusion criteria for meta analysis. Two authors independently assessed trial quality by Cochrane's Risk of Bias and Methodological Items for Non Randomized Studies and extracted data. The data were analyzed by the RevMan 5.2 program of Cochrane library. Results: Overall, study quality was moderate to high. CBT was conducted for a mean of 4.2 weeks, 7 sessions and an average of 36.1-minutes per session. CBT was effective for depression (d=-0.85; 95% CI=-1.09, -0.61), anxiety (d=-0.52; 95% CI=-0.75, -0.29), self care behavior (d=-1.34; 95% CI=-1.93, -0.74), and quality of life (d=-0.42; 95% CI=-0.80, -0.04). Publication bias was not detected as evaluated by funnel plot and Egger's test. Conclusion: CBT has small to large effects on depression, anxiety, self care and quality of life. These finding suggests that various CBT interventions can assist cancer patients in reducing emotional distress and improving self care and quality of life.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.82-90
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• 2012

Objectives : Though gastric cancer is one of the most common cancer in Korea, there have been few studies to explore psychological distress in gastric cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors of psychological distress among patients with gastric cancer. Methods : With consecutive sampling, a total of 274 patients with gastric cancer who admitted to a cancer center in a general hospital were recruited and assessed on psychological distress using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS). Sociodemographic and cancer-related clinical variables were also evaluated. Results : One hundred fifty-three(55.8%) patients with gastric cancer showed psychological distress. Logistic regression models revealed that having alcohol drinking experience[odds ratio(OR)=2.10, p=0,034] and low performance status(OR=2.40 p=0.002) were significantly associated with psychological distress in patients with gastric cancer. Conclusions : These findings indicate that approximately half of patients with gastric cancer suffered from psychological distress and having alcohol drinking experience and low performance status would be associated risk factors, suggesting the need for distress screening and psychosocial supportive care in patients with gastric cancer.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.257-266
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of patient education interventions on distress, self-care knowledge and self-care behavior in cancer patients. Methods: A total of 1,102 studies were retrieved from 6 electronic databases in Korea. From these studies, 18 studies met the inclusion criteria with a total of 850 participants. Two authors independently assessed the methodological quality by Cochrane's Risk of Bias and Methodological Items for Non Randomized Studies. The data were analyzed by the RevMan 5.1 program of Cochrane library. Results: Overall effect size of education interventions on anxiety was -2.12 (95% CI:-3.90, -0.34) (p<.001). The effects on self-care knowledge and self care behavior were -1.08 (95% CI:-1.73, -0.43) (p=.001), and -1.41 (95% CI:-2.13, -0.68) (p<.001), respectively. Publication bias was detected as evaluated by funnel plot, but the fail-safe number was moderate. Conclusion: This study suggests that patient education interventions can relieve anxiety and self-care. Further randomized controlled trials studies are needed to evaluate the effects of patient education intervention on depression.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.12-27
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a scale to measure distress in patients with ischemic stroke and verify its validity and reliability. Methods: Preliminary items were developed from literature review and in-depth interviews. The final preliminary scale was confirmed through a content validity test of eight experts and a preliminary survey of 10 stroke patients. The participants for psychometric testing were 305 stroke patients in the outpatient clinic. Validity and reliability analyses included item analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, known-group validity, and internal consistency of the scale. Results: The final scale consisted of 17 items and 3 factors. The three distinct factors were 'self-deprecation, worry about future health, and withdrawal from society' and this structure was validated using a confirmatory factor analysis. Convergent validity was supported by comparison with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (r = .54, p < .001) and Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (r = .67, p < .001). Known-groups validity was verified by dividing groups according to 'duration since diagnosis' (t = 2.65, p = .009), 'presence of sequela' (t = 10.16, p < .001), and 'awareness of distress' (t = 12.09, p < .001). The internal consistency of the scale using Cronbach's α for the total items was .93. Conclusion: The Ischemic Stroke Distress Scale is a valid and reliable tool that reflects stroke distress effectively. It is expected to be used as a basic tool to develop various intervention strategies to reduce distress in ischemic stroke patients.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.51
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• pp.93-118
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• 2002

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of a psycho-educational group intervention in reducing psychologic distress and enhancing coping in Korean breast cancer patients. The patient selection criteria were age younger than 70 years, having any postoperative adjuvant therapy, and surgery undergone within the previous 12 months as of the start of the study and there were 70 patients eligible for this criteria. They were randomized into three groups; experimental group(24 patients), wait-list control group(24 patients) and wait-list group(36 patients). We conducted a 8-week, structured, psychosocial group intervention, which used psycho-educational strategies combining education and psychological support. Subjects were assessed for psychological distress and coping by administering the Beck Depression Inventory(BDI) and the Ways of Coping Checklist-Revised(WCCL-R) at the baseline and after 8 weeks. Forty eight patients were participated and thirty five patients completed the study. The experimental group had significantly lower scores than the controls for depression on the BDI(p=.012) after 8-week intervention. However, coping did not show a significant difference on WCCL-R after the intervention. Despite of some limitations, the results of this study suggest that a short term psychosocial group intervention produces a significant improvement in the quality of life of patients with primary breast carcinoma in Korea in terms of managing depression.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.289-296
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• 2012

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to find the levels of distress and quality of life of breast cancer survivors in Korea and to identify relationship between distress and quality of life. Methods: The data were collected from 122 breast cancer survivors in 2009. To measure the distress and quality of life, the 'Distress Thermometer and Problem List' and the 'Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy-Breast' were used respectively. Results: The mean score of distress was 4.77 (${\pm}2.35$) and 63.1% of the subjects reported a distress score of 4 or more, indicating a clinically significant level of distress. Among these, the most frequently reported problem area was emotion, followed by family. The mean score of the quality of life was 88.22 (${\pm}18.41$), signifying 6.13 out of 10. The levels of distress and the quality of life were negatively correlated (r=-.38, p<.001). Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that distress is prevalent in Korean breast cancer survivors and the distress is related negatively with their quality of life. Thus oncology professionals continuously need to assess distress of breast cancer survivors and to provide appropriate psychosocial interventions to improve their quality of life.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.263-276
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• 1996

The purpose of this study is to explore various environmental factors that explain parenting practices. Those factors considered are stress and characteristics of single-mother/child together with psychological distress experienced by the single mother. A total of 285 poor single mothers with a child attending elementary school or junior high school completed a structured questionaire. The relationships among the variables were analyzed by the path analysis. The results showed that poor single mothers rely on affectiv $e^portive involvement more frequently then punitive/inconsistent discipline. It is also confirmed that the enviromental factors such as financial stress living environmental stress and job status play important roles in determining the quality of parenting practices with the mediating role of psychological distress.ss.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.669-678
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of integrated psychoeducational program for distress management of newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer. Methods: A quasi-experimental trial was conducted. The participants consisted of 47 female patients with breast cancer assigned to an intervention group (n=25) and control group (n=22). The intervention group participated in integrated psychoeducational program, consisting of individual face-to-face education and telephone-delivered health-coaching sessions. Data were collected at three time points: pre-intervention (T1), post-intervention (T2), and 6-month follow-up (T3). Study instruments were Distress thermometer, Supportive Care Needs Survey Short Form 34 and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast. Results: Compared with the control group, breast cancer patients in the intervention group reported lower distress and supportive care needs than the control group. The intervention group reported higher quality of life (QOL) overall and higher emotional well-being than the control group. Conclusion: These findings indicate that the integrated psychoeducational program is an effective intervention for reducing distress and supportive care needs and increasing QOL of newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer. Oncology nurses need to provide psychoeducational intervention to support patients with breast cancer in managing their distress and helping them adjust to their life.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.331-339
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• 2011

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of patient's psycological distress on social support in the view of patient's regulatory focus. Methods : For this study 300 questionnaires were distributed to medical institution, Busan from July 19 through August 4, 2010. The contents item divided the general characteristics, social support, psychological distress, and regulatory focus. The collected data were analyzed by t-test and multi-regression analysis. Results : The results show that patient's psychological distress is significantly influenced by physical therapist's emotional support and informational support. Also, there were difference with the effect of psychological distress on social supports in the physical therapists according to patient's regulatory focus. Conclusion : The instrumental support is more important to patient with promotion-focus than patient with prevention-focus. The implication of this research confirmed that physical therapist's social support plays important role in decreasing patient's psychological distress.