• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.216-221
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• 2014

Background: Mental health complaints are quite common in health care employees and can have adverse effects on work functioning. The aim of this study was to evaluate an e-mental health (EMH) approach to workers' health surveillance (WHS) for nurses and allied health professionals. Using the waiting-list group of a previous randomized controlled trial with high dropout and low compliance to the intervention, we studied the pre- and posteffects of the EMH approach in a larger group of participants. Methods: We applied a pretest-posttest study design. The WHS consisted of online screening on impaired work functioning and mental health followed by online automatically generated personalized feedback, online tailored advice, and access to self-help EMH interventions. The effects on work functioning, stress, and work-related fatigue after 3 months were analyzed using paired t tests and effect sizes. Results: One hundred and twenty-eight nurses and allied health professionals participated at pretest as well as posttest. Significant improvements were found on work functioning (p = 0.01) and work-related fatigue (p < 0.01). Work functioning had relevantly improved in 30% of participants. A small meaningful effect on stress was found (Cohen d = .23) in the participants who had logged onto an EMH intervention (20%, n = 26). Conclusion: The EMH approach to WHS improves the work functioning and mental health of nurses and allied health professionals. However, because we found small effects and participation in the offered EMH interventions was low, there is ample room for improvement.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.171-179
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health and presenteeism of early childhood teachers and to explore the effects of working conditions and job satisfaction on these. Methods: Data from the 4thKorean Work Environment Survey were used. The sample consisted of 474 female early-childhood teachers from private facilities. Mental health was measured using the WHO-Wellbeing Index. Presenteeism was attributed to a participant upon indication that, during the past 12 months, she had ever attended work, despite being sick. The data by complex sample design were analyzed through the Rao-Scott $x^2$ test and logistic regression analysis. Results: 37.9% of early childhood teachers reported poor mental health and 34.2% had experienced presenteeism. Early childhood teachers in permanent employment, who did not work evening shifts, and with sustainable jobs, were more likely to have better mental health. Moreover, those in permanent employment and remunerated appropriately were less likely to experience presenteeism. Conclusion: Type of employment, number of days working in the evening, and job sustainability affect mental health. Further, type of employment, number of workers, and being well paid have an effect on presenteeism. We suggest that improved working conditions should precede the improvement of early-childhood teachers' mental health.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.93-99
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• 2023

Background: Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and overcommitment at work have been associated poorer mental health. However, nonlinear and nonadditive effects have not been investigated previously. Methods: The association between effort, reward, and overcommitment with odds of poorer mental health was examined among a sample of 68 formal United States waste workers (87% male). Traditional, logistic regression and Bayesian Kernel machine regression (BKMR) modeling was conducted. Models controlled for age, education level, race, gender, union status, and physical health status. Results: The traditional, logistic regression found only overcommitment was significantly associated with poorer mental health (IQR increase: OR = 6.7; 95% CI: 1.7 to 25.5) when controlling for effort and reward (or ERI alone). Results from the BKMR showed that a simultaneous IQR increase in higher effort, lower reward, and higher overcommitment was associated with 6.6 (95% CI: 1.7 to 33.4) times significantly higher odds of poorer mental health. An IQR increase in overcommitment was associated with 5.6 (95% CI: 1.6 to 24.9) times significantly higher odds of poorer mental health when controlling for effort and reward. Higher effort and lower reward at work may not always be associated with poorer mental health but rather they may have an inverse, U-shaped relationship with mental health. No interaction between effort, reward, or overcommitment was observed. Conclusion: When taking into the consideration the relationship between effort, reward, and overcommitment, overcommitment may be most indicative of poorer mental health. Organizations should assess their workers' perceptions of overcommitment to target potential areas of improvement to enhance mental health outcomes.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.180-192
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• 2022

Research suggests that medical students frequently experience mental health problems such as stress, burnout, and depression, which may, in turn, affect suicidal ideation and behaviors. Since mental health problems profoundly impact academic achievement and professionalism, it is vital to understand factors influencing students' mental health and identify strategies to provide the necessary support. Some relevant influencing factors range from the personal level, including gender, personality traits, perfectionism, and social support, to the environmental level, including the grading system, educational phases, exposure to patients' death, mistreatment, and culture of medicine. In this regard, a comprehensive mental health support system that encompasses environmental interventions, as well as personal-level support, is needed. Simultaneously, proactive approaches that address the improvement of self-care and alleviation of systemic burdens are essential, together with the predominant reactive approaches focusing on problems and deficits. Altogether, we proposed a framework for enhancing mental health constructed by four categories (personal-reactive, environmental-reactive, personal-proactive, environmental-proactive) based on the intervention level and goal of support. All four categories have important implications, and one cannot replace the other, but expanding environmental-proactive support will allow more students to learn how to pursue health independently. We expect that this comprehensive framework for enhancing mental health could expand support systems for medical students' personal and professional development.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.47-61
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• 2018

Purpose : The aim of this study was to test the mediating effect of resilience, self-esteem, and social support on the relationship between the mental health and well-being of high school students. Methods : This structured questionnaire survey was conducted with 409 high school students in G province. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 program with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, regression analysis and sobel test. Results : As a result, there were significant correlations among mental health, resilience, self-esteem, social support, and well-being. Resilience and social support showed partial mediating effects on the relationship between the mental health and well-being of high school students. Self-esteem showed a fully mediating effect. Conclusion : Therefore, to reduce mental health problems among high school students and to enhance their well-being, it is necessary for schools to develop mental health education programs and to apply effective mental health improvement strategies using resilience, self-esteem, and social support as mediators.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.427-437
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• 2020

This study investigated perceptions of mental health literacy, mental health status, mental health welfare center, and mental health business of local students. Totally, 388 students visiting the mental health welfare center located in G city were enrolled for the study. Data were collected from October 1 to October 26, 2018 using structured questionnaires, and analyzed by applying the IBM SPSS 24.0 statistics program. The mental health status of subjects was found to be most severely stressed (31.4%). The mental health literacy score of the subjects was 40.99 points, and 45.9% of the respondents had never heard of mental health welfare center. Considering mental health business, 68.3% had never heard of mental health counseling, and the most common way to access information about mental health or mental illness was the internet (58.0%). In addition, 75.3% respondents answered that an increase in the government budget for management of mental health and illness was required. Taken together, our results indicate the necessity to strengthen continuous education, promotion for mental health improvement, and the development of a customized mental health promotion program suitable for the student's level, through involvement of the community mental health welfare center.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.639-650
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of mental health literacy, mental health status, mental health welfare center and mental health business of local public officials. The participants were 762 public officials working in G city. Data were collected from October 1, to October 26, 2019 using structured questionnaires, and IBM SPSS 24.0 statistics program was used for the analysis. As a result, the mental health status of the subjects was the most severe stress 28.1%. The mental health literacy score of the subjects was 40.99 points and mental health status was 1.66 points. And 46.6% of the respondents had never heard of mental health welfare center. As for mental health business, 57.0% had never heard of mental health counseling, and the most common route for gaining information on mental health or mental illness was TV at 65.2%. In addition, 85.0% answered that an increase in the government budget for the management of mental health and illness was necessary. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the continuous education and promotion for mental health improvement and the development of customized mental health promotion programs suitable for the public officials level through of the community mental health welfare center.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.407-418
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to clarify mediating effects of self-concept on mental health of children and adolescents who fell victim to violence. Methods: A survey was conducted on 4th, 5th, and 6th graders from 2 elementary schools and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year students from 3 middle schools (n=2,391). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and AMOS. Results: The mean scores of mental health and self-concept in the subjects were 4.5 and 184.9 respectively. The rate of poor mental health in students who had fallen victim to violence was more than twice as high as that in students who had never experienced it. The self-concept of students who experienced violence had a tendency to decline. Violence experience and self-concept accounted for 47.7%(43.0% for boys and 53.4% for girls) of the changes in mental health. The indirect mediating effects of self-concept were significant. Conclusion: Based on the findings, the following is suggested. Schools should offer a self-concept improvement program for students with a distorted self-concept caused by falling victim to violence. It could help such adolescents have a positive self image and improve their mental health.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.351-362
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• 2007

Objectives: The present study was intended to assess the mental health of nurses working for university hospitals and to establish which factors determine their mental health. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were given to 1,486 nurses employed in six participating hospitals located in Daejeon City and Chungnam Province between July 1 st and August 31st, 2006. The questionnaire items included sociodemographic, job-related, and psychosocial factors, with job stress factors (JCQ) as independent variables and indices of mental health status (PWI, SDS and MFS) as dependent variables. For statistical analysis, the Chi-square test was used for categorical variables, with hierarchical multiple regression used for determining the factors effecting mental health. The influence of psychosocial and job-related factors on mental health status was assessed by covariance structure analysis. The statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The factors influencing mental health status among subject nurses included sociodemographic characteristics such as age, number of hours of sleep, number of hours of leisure, and subjective health status; job-related characteristics such as status, job satisfaction, job suitability, stresses such as demands of the job, autonomy, and coworker support; and psychosocial factors such as self-esteem, locus of control and type A behavior patterns. Psychosocial factors had the greatest impact on mental health. Covariance structure analysis determined that psychosocial factors affected job stress levels and mental health status, and that the lower job stress levels were associated with better mental health. Conclusions: Based on the study results, improvement of mental health status among nurses requires the development and application of programs to manage job stress factors and/or psychosocial factors as well as sociodemographic and job-related characteristics.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.69-78
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was conducted in order to investigate changes in the physical, psychosocial and spiritual health of people with mental disorder in community participating in the Integrated Health Care Program (IHCP). Methods: This study applied the non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. The participants were 37 chronic psychiatric patients who had been clinically diagnosed with mental disorder and visiting a mental rehabilitation center located in S City (17 in the experimental group, and 20 in the control group). The experimental group participated in the IHCP consisting of 24 sessions for eight weeks. Results: After the intervention, only the participants in the experimental group reported significant improvement in physical (body mass, triglyceride), psychosocial (mental symptoms, depression, self-esteem, ability of problem solving), and spiritual wellbeing when compared with those in the control group. Conclusion: These results indicate that IHCP is effective in improving the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual wellbeing of people with mental disorder. Therefore, IHCP developed in this study is considered a useful nursing intervention for raising the comprehensive health level of people with mental disorder in community.