The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a coping scale for families of patients with schizophrenia(CSFPS).

Item construction was derived from literature reviews and interviews with family members and psychiatric nurses. Content validity was tested by experts. Each item was scored on a four-point Likert scale. The preliminary questionnaire was administered to 188 family members of patients with schizophrenia. The data were analyzed using item analysis, factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alpha.

From the factor analysis, 32 items in five factors were derived. The factors were named active coping strategies, avoidance coping strategies, hospital treatment-oriented coping strategies, emotional coping strategies, and suppressive coping strategies for problematic behaviors. The five factors explained 49.7% of the total variance, Cronbach's alpha of the total items was .83 and the factors ranged from .66 to .86.

The results of this study suggest that CSFPS is a reliable and valid instrument to measure coping in families of patients with schizophrenia.

The purpose of this study was to identify the reactions of emergency department nurses to violence.

Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. Thirty emergency department nurses classified 33 selected Q-statements into a normal distribution using a 9 point scale. The collected data was analyzed using the Quanl PC Program.

Three types of reactions to violence were identified. The first type(emotional and physical reactions) showed a sense of regret on the selection of an occupation and emotional and physical reactions such as anxiety, fear, depression, hopelessness, heart palpitations and trembling hands due to the violence. The second type(problem solving) actively coped to prevent the occurrence of violence, grasped the causes of violence and sought out a problem solving plan. The third type(anger reactions) felt a lot of anger against violence, and resented their reality of working under conditions of inadequately secured facilities and systems.

The emotional and physical reactions type and the anger reactions type should be required to attend educational programs to improve attitudes and abilities to solve the problems in a more active and positive manner.

The purpose of this study was to identify the attitude of nurses toward transsexuals.

The Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. Twenty-nine nurses classified the 50 selected Q-statements into a normal distribution using a 9 point scale. The collected data was analyzed using the Quanl PC program.

Four types of attitudes toward transsexuals were identified. The first type (humanitarian acceptance) showed an attitude of respecting transsexuals as human beings and understanding and accepting their desires and difficulties. The second type (superficial understanding) understood the psychological conflicts and suffering of transsexuals but could not accept them as members of families or society. The third type (insufficient understanding) did not feel a sense of rejection toward transsexuals but showed a lack of understanding of their desires and difficulties. The fourth type (rejection) failed to understand the desires and difficulties of transsexuals and showed a sense of rejection toward them, in addition to regarding them as sexually immoral people.

The results of the study indicate that different approaches of educational programs based on the four types of attitudes toward transsexuals are recommended.

This study was to identify important predictors of depression among characteristics of caregiving situation and utilized resources in order to provide basic information for effective nursing interventions to reduce depression experienced by family caregivers of older adults with dementia.

Seventy one family caregivers were identified from community service centers and face-to-face interviewed using structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression using SPSS WIN 10.0 program.

Family caregivers reported high levels of depression, moderate levels of social support, and moderate utilization of coping strategies. Female caregivers who (β=.22) utilized ‘negative’ coping strategies more often (β=.48) and ‘cognitive reconstructuring’ coping strategies less often (β=-.23) were more likely to report higher depression (R²=0.63).

Nursing interventions increasing family caregivers' utilization of positive coping strategies such as problem solving, existential growth, and help seeking and decreasing their utilization of negative coping strategies such as self-blaming are needed to decrease their depression levels.

This study was to determine the mediator or moderator role of social support in the relationship between stress and depression among family caregivers of older adults with dementia.

Sixty nine family caregivers were randomly selected from health care centers in P city and a face-to-face interview was conducted using questionnaires from January to May of 2002. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression using SPSS program.

Family caregivers of older adults with higher dependency in ADLs and higher problematic behaviors, provided care to the older adults for a longer period of time, and perceived less social support reported higher depression. Social support showed mediating effects between stress and depression, while did not show moderating effects. Elderly dependency on ADLs and caregiving duration decreased perceived social support and decreased social support increased depression.

To increase family and social support to the caregivers of more functionally impaired elderly, family education to increase emotional support and physical assistance to the caregivers and broader and flexible application of social support such as increasing accessibility to the elderly daycare service with lower price may prove beneficial.