• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.499-505
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• 2022

Despite advances in medicine and preventive strategies, fewer than 1 in 5 people with hypertension have the problem under control. This could partly be due to gaps in fully elucidating the etiology of hypertension. Genetics and conventional lifestyle risk factors, such as the lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, excess salt intake, and alcohol consumption, do not fully explain the pathogenesis of hypertension. Thus, it is necessary to revisit other suggested risk factors that have not been paid due attention. One such factor is psychosocial stress. This paper explores the evidence for the association of psychosocial stressors with hypertension and shows that robust evidence supports the role of a chronic stressful environment at work or in marriage, low socioeconomic status, lack of social support, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, childhood psychological trauma, and racial discrimination in the development or progression of hypertension. Furthermore, the potential pathophysiological mechanisms that link psychosocial stress to hypertension are explained to address the ambiguity in this area and set the stage for further research.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.249-258
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the psychosocial status of candidates for deceased donor kidney transplantation (DDKT) in South Korea and identify factors associated with high-risk psychosocial status. Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional design included application of a standardized transplantation-specific assessment tool, the Psychosocial Assessment Candidacy Transplantation (PACT) instrument, and review of candidates' medical records. A total of 157 patients awaiting DDKT were recruited from a Korean organ transplantation center. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. Candidates were divided into high- and low-psychosocial risk groups using 3 as the cutoff point of PACT. Results: The mean score for the PACT final rating was 2.10, and the lowest average subscale score was 2.30 for understanding the processes of transplantation and follow up. Poor physical candidacy, especially due to comorbidities, and older age were associated with high psychosocial risk. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the psychosocial status of Korean DDKT candidates was problematic. Development of systematic management programs for effective clinical strategies in the care of candidates is crucial to maintain their desirable psychosocial status in case of an emergency DDKT operation and improve post-transplantation outcomes. Continuous education is absolutely necessary to enhance understanding of the transplantation process for high-risk psychosocial candidates. Additionally, nurses and transplantation professionals should screen candidates with high-risk psychosocial status early in the process using transplantation-specific assessment tools and provide intensive interventions, particularly for poor physical candidacy patients and older candidates.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.1-15
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• 2002

The subjects of this study were 4th to 6th grade children and instruments were the Teenage Inventory of Social Skills, the Internal-External Control Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale, and the Peer Relations Questionnaire. In the concurrent study, children lower in social skills and in self-esteem and external in locus of control reported more bullying and victimization. Children higher in social skills and in self-esteem and internal in locus of control reported more prosocial behavior. In the prospective study, children lower in social skills were more involved in bullying and victimization. Children higher in social skills reported more prosocial behavior. The effects of locus of control and self-esteem on peer relations diminished over time. However, social skills had a significant influence on bullying, victimization and prosocial behavior up to two years later. Children lower in psychosocial development were more vulnerable to peer victimization.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.431-442
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• 2020

Background: Psychosocial risks are increasingly a type of risk analyzed in organizations beyond chemical, physical, and biological risks. To this type of risk, a greater attention has been given following the update of ISO 9001: 2015, more precisely the requirement 7.1.4 for the process operation environment. The update of this normative reference was intended to approximate OHSAS 18001: 2007 reference updated in 2018 with the publication of ISO 45001. Thus, the organizations are increasingly committed to achieving and demonstrating good occupational health and safety performance. Methods: The aim of this study was to characterize the psychosocial risks in a cryopreservation laboratory and to develop a predictive model for psychosocial risk management. The methodology followed to collect the information was the inquiry by questionnaire that was applied to a sample comprising 200 employees. Results: The results show that most of the respondents are aware of the psychosocial risks, identifying interpersonal relationships and emotional feelings as the main factors that lead to this type of risks. Furthermore, terms such as lack of resources, working hours, lab equipment, stress, and precariousness show strong correlation with psychosocial risks. The model presented in this study, based on artificial neural networks, exhibited good performance in the prediction of the psychosocial risks. Conclusion: This work presents the development of an intelligent system that allows identifying the weaknesses of the organization and contributing to the enhancement of the psychosocial risks management.

• 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.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.45-50
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• 2011

Compared to that in the Caucasian population, type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) incidence rates are very low in Koreans. Therefore, compared to the recent development of pharmacological therapy applicable to Korean children with T1DM, interest in nonpharmacological therapy and psychosocial support systems remains low, as is the development of Korean-style T1DM education programs for therapeutic application. Children who have been newly diagnosed with diabetes are placed in completely new environments for treatment. For appropriate control of diabetes, patients have to self-monitor blood glucose levels and inject insulin several times a day and must use extreme self-control when they eat foods to avoid increases in blood glucose levels. Blood glucose excursions resulting from impaired pancreatic ${\beta}$ cell functions cause mental stress due to vague fears of chronic complications of diabetes. In addition, children with diabetes cannot be excluded from the substantial amount of studies required of Korean adolescents, and the absolute shortage of time for ideal control of diabetes adds to their mental stress. Many of these patients are psychologically isolated in school where they spend most of their time, and they are not appropriately considered or supported with respect to blood glucose control in many cases. In this respect, this author will introduce some of the newest views on nonpharmacological therapy and psychosocial support systems that account for important parts of T1DM management and seek measures to apply them in conformity with the social characteristics of Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.1-15
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• 2004

This study examined the interaction between children's peer experiences and familial support in relation to their psychosocial adjustment(self-esteem and lonelitness). Peer experiences were examined in terms of children's perceptions of peer acceptance and the reciprocity of best friendship. The subjects were 2754th or 5th graders residing in Seoul. It was found that the interaction between children's perceptions of peer acceptance and familial support, and that between the reciprocity of bort friendship and familial support were both significant predictors of children's loneliness whereas only the former was a significant predictor of children's self-esteem. The study results suggest that children's experiences from one type of interpersonal relationship should be examined in conjunction with their experiences in other types of relationships in order to better understand the psychosocial domains of child development.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.119-136
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• 2002

This study examined teacher's perceptions of the psychosocial adjustment and problem behaviors of institutionalized children compared with home reared children. Data were collected from the teachers of institutionalized children in elementary and secondary schools. The majority of institutionalized children were regarded as not very much different from home reared children. Still, findings from this study lead to conclusions that institutionalization is likely to elevate children's risk for adjustment problems such as social withdrawal, peer violence, and academic failure. Findings that the ratio of institutionalized children attending school decreased with age lead to speculation that failure in psychosocial adjustment may lead to to dropping out of school. Finally, a practical framework for the optimal development of institutionalized children is provided, with emphasis on school-community based interventions.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2017

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of stress on psychosocial wellbeing at the time of an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome(MERS) and to investigate the effect of resilience as a mediator on the relationship between stress and psychosocial wellbeing. Methods : Perceived Stress Scale, Psychosocial Wellbeing Index Short Form, and the Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale was implemented for 156 medical persons who worked at the hospital in which exposure to MERS cases had been confirmed and 127 ordinary people. We conducted a Pearson correlation coefficient and a hierarchical multiple regression to confirm the effect of stress on psychosocial wellbeing and the mediating effect of resilience between stress and psychosocial wellbeing. Results : The higher the perceived stress, the lower the psychosocial wellbeing in both healthcare workers and the public. The higher the perceived stress, the lower the resilience and the research results showed that there was a partially mediating effect of resilience in the relationship between stress and psychosocial wellbeing. Conclusions : This study demonstrated that the degree of individual resilience can indirectly give a positive effect on the psychosocial wellbeing when people under the stress by MERS shows adverse effects on psychosocial wellbeing. This suggests that clinical intervention and psychosocial approach aiming at strengthening resilience is important to maintain mental health during crisis development.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.46
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• pp.118-144
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• 2001

To examine association between psychological characteristics of Adult-Children of Alcoholics and psychosocial Problems was a purpose of this study. The data were collected on a written questionaire completed 765 adolescents who were consisted of children of alcoholic and nonalcoholic parents. Parental alcoholism was established using CAST and psychosocial problems were assessed by Youth Self Report. Psychological characteristics of ACOA were identified by Adult Children of Alcoholics Screening Test. This study showed that children of alcoholics possess distinct psychological characteristics and they have experienced a variety of psychosocial problems. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted in order to determine the extent to which characteristics of ACOA affected on psychosocial problems. As a results, psychological characteristics of ACOA were significantly associated with them after controlling for the correlates of family structure, level of family functioning, and parental alcoholism. In addition, two group of ACOA were created on the basis of scores of ACAST. High-risk group had significantly higher YSR scores than low-risk group and it revealed that clinical intervention was needed for many adolescents in high-risk group. The results underscored the importance of ACOA syndrome in adaptation of children with alcoholic parents and suggested the need of future research focusing on development process of subtypes of ACOA.