• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.1153-1162
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of pregnant women's participation in gymnastic exercise on their body evaluation and pregnancy stress. The subjects in this study were 100 female pregnant adults who were aged between 20 and 39 and resided in the region of Gangbook, Seoul. Out of them, 49 participants got pregnancy exercise, and 51 women didn't. A SPSS WIN 15.0 program was utilized to analyze the collected data, and frequency analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe test and multiple regression analysis were conducted. As a result of making a statistical analysis of the data, the following findings were given: First, the demographic characteristics of the pregnant women made differences to their body evaluation and pregnancy stress in part. Second, whether they got pregnancy exercise or not made partial differences to their body evaluation and pregnancy stress. Third, the body evaluation of the pregnant women exerted a partial influence on their pregnancy stress.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.126-137
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• 2018

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of an experience-focused prenatal program on stress, anxiety, childbirth confidence, and maternal-fetal attachment for women in their first pregnancy. Methods: The participants were 57 pregnant women at 32 weeks or more of a first pregnancy who agreed to participate in this study. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, $x^2$ test, and Fisher's exact test using the SPSS 21.0 program. Results: The experimental group showed significant differences in stress, anxiety, childbirth confidence, and maternal-fetal attachment from the control group. Conclusion: The four-week experience-focused prenatal program can be used for women in their first pregnancy to reduce their stress and anxiety and to increase their childbirth confidence and maternal-fetal attachment.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.274-290
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• 2023

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of prenatal education characteristics, pandemic-related pregnancy stress, and health behaviors during pregnancy on prenatal depression in pregnant women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: The participants were 180 pregnant Korean women, recruited from internet communities for pregnancy preparation, childbirth, and childcare, from July 5 to 15, 2022. The collected data were analyzed using the t-test, analysis of variance, the Mann-Whitney U-test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and multiple regression analysis. Results: The scores for pandemic-related pregnancy stress (24.50±6.37) and health behaviors during pregnancy (67.07±9.20) were high. Nearly half of the participants (n=89, 49.4%) presented with prenatal depression, with scores of 10 or greater. Prenatal depression had a positive correlation with gestational age (r=.18, p=.019) and pandemic-related pregnancy stress (r=.27, p<.001), and a negative correlation with health behaviors during pregnancy (r=-.42, p<.001). The factors associated with prenatal depression were pandemic-related pregnancy stress (t=4.70, p<.001), marital satisfaction (dissatisfied) (t=3.66, p<.001), pregnancy healthcare practice behaviors (t=-3.31, p=.001), family type (weekend couple) (t=2.84, p=.005), and gestational age (t=2.32, p=.022). The explanatory power of these variables was 38.2%. Conclusion: Since participants had a high level of prenatal depression during the pandemic, and infectious diseases such as COVID-19 may recur, strategies should be developed to improve pregnant women's mental health with consideration of the unique variables that are relevant in a pandemic. It is also necessary to develop efficient online prenatal education programs that can be implemented even in special circumstances such as social distancing, and to evaluate their effectiveness.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.195-203
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• 2014

Purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between fatigue, sleep disturbance, and gestational stress in women during late stage of pregnancy. Methods: This study was conducted with 113 healthy pregnant women at gestational age greater than 27 weeks who were registered at community health centers and received prenatal care. A structured questionnaire regarding fatigue, sleep disturbance, and gestational stress was used. The data was analyzed using a t-test, an ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: The subjects with unplanned pregnancies and irregular exercise patterns showed a higher level of fatigue than those with planned pregnancies and regular exercise patterns. Pregnant women with caffeine intake manifested higher levels of gestational stress and sleep disturbance than those without. The levels of sleep disturbance and gestational stress increased as the fatigue levels increased. The fatigue levels increased with increased levels of sleep disturbance. Conclusion: Planned pregnancy, regular exercise patterns, and caffeine intake were related with fatigue, sleep disturbance, and gestational stress in women during late stages of pregnancy. Fatigue, sleep disturbance, and gestational stress had close associations to each other. In the future, such results should guide development of nursing intervention programs for women in late stages of pregnancy.

• Korean Parent-Child Health Journal
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 2004

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the intention of pregnancy and the parenting stress of mothers with infants. Method: The subjects were 124 mothers of infants who visited the public health center during the periods of June 1 to July 31, 2003. Abidin's parenting stress index and Kim's intention of pregnancy were used. Results: The results of the study are as follows. 1. The general characteristics of mothers' age of the normal infants shows that the thirty was 53.2%, the highest. Of religion the buddhism was the most. Infant's sex distribution shows that the male infants was 48.2%, female was 51.6%. Cesarean section distribution was 43.5%, Normal delivery was 56.5%. Milk feeding distribution was 50.5%. 2. The parenting stress of mothers with infants was total $57.05{\pm}13.73$. 3. The characteristics variables significantly related to the parenting stress of mothers with infants was infants's age(F=3.27, p <.05), and the characteristics variables significantly related to the intention of pregnancy was the mother's occupation(t=1.48, p <.05). 4. There was not a Significant relation between the intention of pregnancy and the parenting stress of mothers with infants. Conclusion: Through the study, to increase the health promotions of Mothers with Infants and infants should be a family planning based on results of the study.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.93-104
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship among infertility stress, depression and Resilience of infertile women during infertility treatment. Methods: As a descriptive study, we surveyed 129 infertile women in 1 fertility center from November 2014 to January 2015. The data was analyzed in SPSS WIn 18.0 program. Results: Infertility stress, depression, and resilience averaged $3.23{\pm}.32$ (range of scale 1~6), $1.42{\pm}.39$ (range of scale 1~4), and $3.45{\pm}.35$ (range of scale 1~5), respectively. There was significant difference in infertility stress by job, abortion experience after pregnancy with infertility treatments, anxiety of high risk pregnancy, burden of pregnancy, important of having child. There was significant difference in depression by job, Economy burden on infertility treatment, burden of pregnancy. Infertility stress had a positive correlation with depression (r=.192. p<.029) Resilience had a negative correlation with depression (r=-.349. p<.001). Conclusion: It is necessary to provide infertile women with the counseling on their infertility stress and depression, and the intervention programs for infertile women is expected to help them cope and adapt with their personal and marital problems, reduce their negative emotions, and thus promote their quality of life.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.187-193
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• 2004

This study aimed to determine the association of maternal oxidative stress and adverse pregnancy outcome with serum vitamin C concentration and a myeloperoxidase (MPO) genetic polymorphism during pregnancy. We investigated 450 pregnant women who visited Ewha Womans University Hospital for prenatal care during gestational weeks 24～28. During the second trimester, we measured serum vitamin C levels and urinary 8-hydroxyde-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and malondialdehyde (MDA) as an oxidative stress biomarker. We determined the presence of a maternal MPO polymorphism (G-to-A substitution at nucleotide 463) using a PCR-RFLP assay. We compared the level of oxidative stress and birth weight with the vitamin C concentration and the presence of the MPO polymorphism. The mean level of maternal oxidative stress tended to be higher and the birth weight lower for MPO type A/A than for types A/G and G/G. Vitamin C levels above the 75 percentiles were associated with reduced concentrations of urinary MDA and 8-OHdG but increased birth weight. Our data demonstrate that oxidative stress and neonatal birth weight are associated with the MPO genetic polymorphism, with the association modified by the maternal vita-min C levels.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.38-47
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• 2014

Purpose: This study aimed to identify related factors of prenatal depression by stress-vulnerability and stress-coping models for pregnant women. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design with a convenience sampling was used. A total of 107 pregnant women who visited a general hospital in a metropolitan city were recruited from August to October, 2013. A structured questionnaire included the Korean version of Beck Depression Inventory II, and the instruments measuring Self-Esteem, Marital Satisfaction, Pregnancy Stress, Stressful Life Events, and Coping. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, Parson's correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: The mean score of prenatal depression was $11.95{\pm}6.2$, then showing 19.6% with mild depression, 15.0% with moderate depression, and 0.9% with severe depression on BDI II scale. Prenatal depression had positive correlation with pregnancy stress (r=.55, p<.01), stressful life events (r=.26, p<.01) and negative correlation with self- esteem (r=-.38, p<.01), marital satisfaction (r=-.40, p<.01), and coping (r=-.21, p<.05). Factors of pregnancy stress, self-esteem, stressful life events, and planned pregnancy explained 38% of the total variance of prenatal depression. Conclusion: These findings show that health providers need to assess prenatal depression and to control the influencing factors.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.44-54
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• 2023

Purpose: Uncertainty and restrictions on daily life have increased fear, stress, and depression during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Depression is the most common mental health problem in pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the levels of fear and stress related to COVID-19 experienced by pregnant women, as well as their levels of depression, and to examine the factors associated with depression during pregnancy. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, correlational study conducted among 153 pregnant women who visited a maternity hospital in Busan, South Korea. A self-reported questionnaire was used for data collection from December 18, 2021 to March 8, 2022. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. Results: Pregnant women experienced a moderate level of fear related to COVID-19, with an average score of 21.55±4.90. The average score for depression during pregnancy was 14.86±11.10, with 50.3% of the participants experiencing depression (≥13). The factors associated with depression during pregnancy were fear of COVID-19, contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, being in the third trimester of pregnancy, high stress levels due to difficulties experienced from social distancing measures, and unintended pregnancy. These five statistically significant factors explained 35.0% of variance in depression during pregnancy. Conclusion: Considering the prevalence of depression in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to develop interventions to reduce anxiety by providing correct information and alleviating the stress of social distancing.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.232-240
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive survey study was designed to identify the stress coping types of married immigrant pregnant women and find out the differences in maternal-fetal attachment and maternal identity based on each types. Methods: 151 married immigrant women who visited 3 women's hospitals located in J-do for pre-pregnancy checkup were selected as study objects. Data were analyzed by dsecriptive statistics, cluster analysis, t-test, ANOVA, and $Scheff{\acute{e}}$ multiple comparison test. Results: Cluster analysis revealed 4 distinct stress coping styles; low stress-coping involvement social support-oriented type, high stress-coping involvement hopeful thinking type, low stress-coping involvement type, effective stress coping types. Women frequently using effective stress coping type among the four types reported higher maternal-fetal attachment. The group of active coping styles got significantly higher score on maternal identity. Conclusion: Proper stress coping of married immigrant pregnant women regarding pregnancies proved to result in high levels of maternal-fetal attachment and maternal identity. Studies measuring the stress coping styles that affect pregnancies should be continuously conducted.