• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.585-596
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• 2016

This study was designed to examine the relationships among the levels of perceived stress, dietary behaviors, physical exercise, drinking, smoking, and relief from fatigue through sleep which affect the subjective happiness in adolescents. Based on the study findings, this paper proposes the basic data required for offering practical solutions to improve the subjective happiness of adolescents. IBM SPSS 20 and AMOS 23 were used to conduct frequency and descriptive analyses, in conjunction with Pearson's correlation coefficients, the AMOS bootstrapping method and phantom variables, for the raw data obtained from the 9,599 participants included in the 11th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. Those factors having a direct effect on the subjective happiness of the adolescents were the level of perceived stress, relief from fatigue through sleep, physical exercise, dietary behavior and smoking. Perceived stress had an indirect effect on subjective happiness, and the analysis of the indirect effect and significance level of multiple mediators by means of phantom variables showed that, as well as perceived stress, relief from fatigue through sleep, physical exercise, dietary behaviors, and smoking also had indirect effects on subjective happiness. Consequently, a multidisciplinary approach is needed to optimize the subjective happiness in adolescents and financial support for environmental improvements is particularly necessary.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.104-111
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• 2021

Objectives: Adolescent suicide is a serious national issue in Korea. Recently, life satisfaction has been recognized as a major factor related to this issue. The main purpose of this study was to identify the domains of life satisfaction that affect suicidal behavior in adolescence. Methods: Data were collected from eight middle schools in Incheon, Korea. A total of 1297 students answered questions regarding their demographic characteristics, happiness, self-related life satisfaction domains (appearance, leisure time, physical health, and mental health), depressive symptoms, and suicidal behavior. Results: In the Spearman correlation analysis, female sex, perceived socioeconomic status (SES), happiness, and all four self-related satisfaction scores showed significant correlations with depression and suicidality. Multivariate regression analysis suggested that suicidality was significantly affected by perceived SES, satisfaction with appearance, mental health satisfaction, and depression. Finally, depression was identified as a partial mediator of the association between mental health satisfaction and suicidality, and a complete mediator of the association between female sex and suicidality. Conclusion: Perceived SES, satisfaction with appearance, and mental health satisfaction significantly affected students' suicidality, with or without the effect of depression. Health authorities, educators, and family members must be aware of this to identify adolescents at suicide risk earlier.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.29.1-29.14
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• 2022

Background: Hotel housekeepers are one of the most important occupational group within tourism hotel sector; various health problems related to their job have been described, above all musculoskeletal disorders. The objective of this study is to understand the experiences and perceptions of hotel housekeepers and key informants from the Balearic Islands (Spain) regarding occupational health conditions and the strategies employed to mitigate them. Methods: A qualitative study was carried out. Six focus groups with hotel housekeepers and 10 semi-structured interviews with key informants were conducted. Next, we carried out a content analysis. Results: Hotel housekeepers reported musculoskeletal disorders, anxiety and stress as main occupational health problems; health professionals underscored the physical problems. Hotel housekeepers perceived that their work (physically demanding and with repetitive movements) caused their health conditions. To solve health issues, they used medication (anti-inflammatory agents, painkillers, sedatives and anxiolytics), which allowed them to continue working; health public services, generally rated as satisfactory; individual protective equipment; ergonomics (with difficulties due to high work pace and hotel facilities) and physical activity. Two contrasting attitudes were identified regarding sick leave: HHs who refused to accept a doctor-prescribed sick leave (due to fear of being fired, sense of responsibility, ...), and those who accepted it (because they could not continue working, they prioritised health before work). Conclusions: Our results might contribute to plan improvement strategies and programs to address health problems among hotel housekeepers. These programs should include interventions, such as coping strategies for the work-related risk factors (i.e., stress) and strategies to reduce medicine consumption. Additionally, hotel facilities should adopt policies focused on making workplaces more ergonomic (i.e., furniture) and to diminish the work pace.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.77-86
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• 2009

Effective parenting attitudes have been known to be associated with children's health practices including dietary intake and physical activity. The objective of this study is to compare children's body weights and eating habits by maternal parenting attitudes. Data were collected at school (N = 396; 4th and 5th grade students) using self-administered questionnaires on maternal parenting attitudes, eating habits and physical activity. Parenting attitudes were categorized as 1 of 4 parenting attitudes (overprotective, authoritarian, democratic, and neglectful) using affection and control median cut points. Children's body weights, frequency of breakfast, eating out and fastfood, and physical activity were compared by maternal parenting attitudes. Children's body weights were related with mother's employment status (p < 0.05) and parenting attitudes (p < 0.01). Children of unemployed mothers were more likely to be overweight. Children of neglectful mothers (p < 0.01) were more likely to be underweight, compared with children of mothers with other parenting attitudes. Since, unfortunately, the number of children of neglectful mothers was very limited in this study, we could hardly assess eating habits of children of neglectful mothers. Children of authoritarian mothers ate breakfast more regularly (p < 0.05), but ate snacks less regularly (p < 0.01). Children of democratic mothers ate fastfood less frequently (p < 0.01) and ate snacks more regularly (p < 0.01). Meanwhile, children of overprotective mothers ate breakfast less regularly (p < 0.05) and ate out less frequently (p < 0.01). However, maternal parenting attitudes were not related to children's physical activities. In conclusion, the maternal democratic parenting attitude was associated with healthy eating habits including regular snack time and less fastfood. On the other hand, the maternal neglectful parenting attitude was associated with high risk of children's underweight. Understanding the mechanism through which parenting attitude is related with underweight risk and healthy eating habits may lead to the development of better interventions.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.386-392
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• 2017

Objectives: Refugees resettled in the US may be at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, little is known about CVD-related issues among Karen refugees who have migrated to the US from the Thai-Myanmar border. The purpose of this study was to examine CVD-related health beliefs and lifestyle issues among Karen refugees resettled in the US. Methods: Karen refugees resettled in the US from the Thai-Myanmar border (n=195) participated in a survey study on health beliefs related to CVD, salt intake, physical activity (PA), and smoking in the fall of 2016. Results: A high-salt diet, physical inactivity, and smoking were major lifestyle problems. Participants who adhered to a low-salt diet considered themselves to be susceptible to CVD. Most participants did not engage in regular PA. Regular PA was associated with less perceived susceptibility to CVD and greater perceived benefits of a healthy lifestyle for decreasing the likelihood of CVD. Conclusions: Each refugee population may require individualized strategies to promote PA and a healthy diet. Future studies should develop health education programs that are specifically designed for Karen refugees and evaluate such programs. In addition to health education programs on healthy lifestyle choices, tobacco cessation programs seem to be necessary for Karen refugees. At the same time, it is important to foster strategies to increase the utilization of preventive care among this population by promoting free or reduced-fee resources in the community to further promote their health.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.122-133
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• 2021

Objectives: This study evaluated the dietary habits and health behaviors of Korean adults according to their physical activity. Methods: Adults aged 19~64 years, who participated in the 2016~2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, were enrolled in this study. The subjects were classified into the physical inactivity group, aerobic physical activity group, strength exercise group, and combined exercise group. Results: Significant differences in skipping breakfast, frequency of eating out, dietary supplements, and alcohol drinking status were observed among physical activity groups (P < 0.001). The combined exercise group had the highest % KDRI of protein, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, potassium, and iron (P < 0.001). The physical inactivity group had the highest obesity rate (35.1%), and they perceived their body image type to be obese. In the combined exercise group, 47.8% of respondents said they were in good health (P < 0.001). The health-related quality of life score of the physical inactivity group was the lowest, with a score of 0.94. The metabolic syndrome risk rate of the combined exercise group was lower at 0.62 times (95% CI, 0.51-0.75) than the physical inactivity group. Conclusions: The physical activity type was associated with metabolic syndrome. These results can be useful for supporting dietary education and physical activity programs for adults.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-44
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• 2019

Objective : The aim of this study was to investigate the individual and job related factors as risk factors for mental health of firefighters. Methods : The data of 202 fire-fighters was analyzed by using a multinomial logistic regression analysis. All participants completed self-reported questionnaires including demographics (sex, age, work duration), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Ways of Coping Checklist, the Colleague related traumatic events, the Korean occupational stress scale, the Korean Perceived Stress Scale-10, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Participants were divided into three groups according to the level of stress and depressive symptom scores: Low Stress-Low Depression (LS-LD), High Stress-Low Depression (HS-LD), and High Stress-High Depression (HS-HD). Results : A job related factor-organizational injustice-was a significant factor related to HS-LD, while individual factors such as active coping level and childhood trauma experience and a job related factor-difficult physical environment-were significantly associated with HS-HD. Conclusion : These results imply the need to take both individual and environmental approaches into account when managing the stress and depression of firefighters. More specifically, psycho-education to facilitate active coping strategy and adaptive emotional regulation at the individual level and the improvement of physical work environment of firefighters should be supported.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.212-220
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was to investigate the prevalence & types of workplace violence toward nurses in hospitals, and to understand nurse's coping response, cause of violence and prevention strategy. Methods: The data were collected from 254 nurses working in 9 hospitals in Jeju Province by the self-report from June to August 2010. Results: The respondents experienced unpleasant or insulting words (89.8%), verbal threat (38.2%), physical threat (67.7%), physical injury (32.7%), severe physical injury (2.8%), and sexual harassment (26.4%) during the last one year. The frequent offenders were patients, patients' family and physicians in order. The causes of violence which nurses perceived were personality of offenders (76.4%), lack of assessment of aggressive patients or care givers (42.1%), and lack of explanation to patients or caregivers (33.5%). They reported that coping strategies for workplace violence were 'established reporting system (63.4%)', 'building a cooperative circumstances within team members (58.3%)', and 'formulation of hospital policies for violence prevention and coping (54.3%)'. Conclusion: These findings showed nurses are at considerable risk for workplace violence, and they experience various types of violence from patients, caregivers, and physicians. We suggest that hospitals formulate appropriate policies, guidelines and programs to prevent and cope with workplace violence in hospitals.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.237-247
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of osteoporosis and falls and their consequences, and to identify predictors of fracture risk in the postmenopausal women. Methods: A total of 687 postmenopausal women were recruited through a stratified convenience sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain osteoporosis and fall history and details of their most recent fall. To predict fracture risk factors, we collected demographic and physical health variables related osteoporosis and fall. Fracture risk was measured by FRAX$^{(R)}$ to calculate 10-year probability of major osteoporotic and hip fracture. Results: The prevalence of osteoporosis was 22.1%, and 66.4% of them had treatments for osteoporosis. The incidence of falls during the past year was 19.2% and 38.6% of those who fell suffered consequent fractures. Women with history of osteoporosis and falls were significant predictors of 10-year probability of major osteoporotic and hip fracture. Other significant predictors were history of fracture, chronic disease, surgical menopause, lower BMI, poorer perceived health and no job. Conclusion: It appears that history of osteoporosis and falls are main predictors of fracture risk. Nursing assessment should be performed by detail history taking for osteoporosis, fall, chronic disease, and fracture to screen fracture risk group among postmenopausal women.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.358-367
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• 1998

The study purpose was to investigate psychosocial factors related to smoking among adolescent boys. The Theory of Planned Behavior provide the basis for the study. Twenty-five attitudinal beliefs, 9 normative beliefs and 20control beliefs were identified through questionnaire development. The data were analyzed using t-test and χ2-test. Thirty-three percent of 300 students were smokers. Most of the beliefs examined were significantly different between smokers(n=92) and nonsmokers(n=92). With respect to attitudinal beliefs, smokers responded less negatively on the items of bad health effects of smoking such as sore throat, headache, chest pain, risk of cancer and bad blood circulation(p<0.001), and decreased physical strength(p<0.05). Smokers believed less negatively on the items that smoking leads to bothering others, bad breath, yellow teeth and making them spend money(p<0.001). In contrast, smokers felt more positively on smoking as a means of stress management, relaxing, helping digestion(P<0.001). Smokers felt less pressure for not smoking from significant others. Especially mother, siblings, friends, girl friends, seniors of school were important sources of influence regarding subject's smoking. Smokers felt less confident in controlling the urge to smoke in several situations including; when they were with friends or asked to smoke by friends; after the meal, or drinking; when they were bored or stressed, upset, and when they felt unstable(p<0.001). Smokers also scored lower on specific skills to quit or control the urge to smoke as well as overall perceived control, compared to nonsmokers(p<0.001). These results suggest that interventions for adolescents incorporate diverse strategies to increase the perceived control over smoking in specific situations as well as overall perceived control, to help them realize and modify attitudinal beliefs, and to elicit support from significant others for not smoking. (Korean J Community Nutrition 3(3) : 358∼367,1998)