The general fearfulness of hospitalized school-age children and the emotional anxiety of their mothers were investigated and compared to those of normal children and their mothers, in order to provide theoretical basis for establishing comprehensive nursing care of hospitalized children including their mothers. The present study was carried out from Sept. 5th to Oct. 3rd, 1983. A total of 81 hospital i zed children and their mothers were investigated and 95 normal elementary school children and their mothers as control group were surveyed. The general fearfulness of children and the emotional anxiety of their mothers were measured through questionaire by using Geer's FSS-II scale and Spielberger's STAI scale, respectively. The results were analyzed by computer using S.P.S.S. program and summarized as follows: 1. The emotional anxiety of the mothers of hospitalized children was greater than that of normal children's mothers.(P=0.000). 2. The general fearfulness of hospitalized children was greater than that of normal children (P=0.000). 3. The general fearfulness of hospitalized children varied with children's age and sex, mother's age and mother's experience of hospitalization. a) The general fearfulness of the hospitalized children at the age of 7~9 was greater than that of the age 10~12. (P=0.020) b) Girl's scored greater fearfulness than boys. (P=0.037) c) The younger mother's age resulted in the higher children fearfulness. (P=0.0059) d) When the mothers did not have experience of hospitalization, the children's fearfulness was high. (P=0.014) 4. The anxiety-state of hospitalized children's mother was proportionally reacted to their anxiety-trait. (r=0.694, P=0.000) 5. The relationship between mother's emotional anxiety and their hospitalized children's general fearfulness failed to show statistical significance. (r=0.1184, P>0.05). These results indicated that the general fearfulness of hospitalized children was affected by environmental factors beside mother's emotional anxiety. An extensive study on the factors influencing the general fearfulness of hospitalized children is needed.
The purpose of this study was to describe and understand how diabetics dealt with the result of the various changes of lifestyle. The grounded theory approach of qualitative research methods was used for building a substantive theory about that. The subjects of this study were 10 clients who experienced diabetes from 4 to 30 years. The data was collected from August 1999 to November 1999 through in-depth interviews utilizing home visitation and telephone interview technique then it was and analyzed simultaneously by a constant comparative method in which the new data was continuously coded into categories and properties according to Strauss & Corbin,s methodology. One hundred six concepts were found and they were grouped into 35 categories and then into 14 categories. The results were as follows difficulty, unable to overcome the changes, disposition, disease process, tiredness, supportive environment, perception, handling, concent- ration, mastering, endurance, avoidance, giving up and tailoring. The core phenomenon was 'tiredness' and these categories were synthesized into one core concept, the process of tailoring. The process of tailoring in diabetics consisted of: 1) going through difficulty of disease management 2) experiencing tiredness from the difficulty of disease management 3) perception of disease from tiredness 4) undergoing various self-management 5) controlling the process of tailoring by one's own method. Six hypotheses were derived from the relation of these concepts and four types were from intensity of tiredness, direction of disposition, type of disease process and the level of supportive environment and perception. This study offers better understanding on diabetic experiences and may facilitate more appropriate interventive strategies to provide support, information and knowledge. The nurses should utilize the results to help diabetics enjoy their lives without any trouble and must continuously develop nursing knowledges and skills.
The purpose of this study was to investigate loneliness in infertile women and determine how loneliness related to personal characteristics, cause of infertility, family composition, and family conflicts. It also provides basic data for nursing strategies concerning infertile women. A total of 182 subjects were selected at an infertile clinic in Seoul, Korea. Data were collected from May 2 to June 21, 1997 by questionaire. It consisted of questions concerning general characteristics, items relating to infertility, and the Loneliness Scale. The UCLA Loneliness scale was used(more specifically, the Korean version of the Revised UCLA Scale by Kim Ok Soo.). The data were analyzed by using SPSS/PC computer program. The result are as follows: 1. The mean age of infertile women was 32.4 years old, and the mean age of souses was 34.8 yerars old. 30.2% of women had a marital duration of 3-5 years, and 25.8% had a marital duration of 5-10 years. 23.1% reported the main etiology of infertility as unexplained, 18.1% reported ovulation disturbances, and 26.4% reported complex causes. 3.8% of the couples had sexual relationship difficulty 83% lived in nuclear families, while 17% lived in large families. 2. The mean loneliness scores of infertile women was 35.53(SD=8.66). The total loneliness score of this study was 80. 3. There were significant differences in loneliness scores according to ages(F=6.893, p=.001), education background(t=4.418, p=.000), and the educational background of husband(t=2.339, p=.020). 4. Loneliness scores related to family situations were significantly different according to several male nephews in husbands' family(F=2.822, p=.027). 5. Loneliness scores related to conflicts were significantly different according to husbands and their family(F=11.465, p=.000). Nurses should acknowlege the fact that some infertile women may experience loneliness. In conclusion, nurses can provide infertile women with information about ways to decrease loneliness and create support groups for themselves, assisting infertile women to adjust to the experience of infertility through positive methods.