This study examined the effects of group social support on the reduction of burden and increase in well-being of mothers of developmentally delayed children. The research used a one group pre-post experimental design. The independent variable in the experiment was group social support. Two series of 4-weekly meetings for group social support were conducted by the researcher with the intention of developing a self-help group. The dependent variables were burden and well-being. Well-being was operationalized as physical symptoms and quality of life. Thirty mothers of developmentally delayed infants from the rehabilitation center of a medical center participated in the study. Data were collected by interview and a self-administered questionnaire. The mean age of the subjects was 29.9 years. Changes of the dependent variables between pre and post tests were compared using the t-test. Even though there was a slight improvement in the scores for the dependent variables, they were not statistically significant. The items, "I resent my baby", "I feel angry about my interactions with my baby", "I feel guilty in my relationship with my baby" showed a significant decrease in burden score and were statistically significant. Symptoms of loneliness, constipation, anxiety, restlessness were less and feeling of happiness was greater after participation in the group social support, than on the pretest. The mothers showed emotional instability and frustrations during the group sessions but their reactions in general were positive. Emotional support, stress management and information provided were identified as the most valuable content of the sessions. However, participation was not active due to the mother's denial, delayed acceptance and/or avoidance of their infants' problems. It can be seen that group social support for the mothers with developmentally delayed children should be provided after infancy when the mothers have time to accept their children's conditions and are ready to receive support. The use of comprehensive instruments which measure burden in both families and mothers needs to be developed for future research.

PURPOSE: This cross-sectional study was designed to explore the relationship among social support, experienced stressful life events and health behaviors of Korean undergraduate students, and validate the mediator effect of social support. METHOD: One thousand four hundred fifty-three undergraduate students were randomly selected from five universities located in the middle area of Korea. RESULT: The health behaviors of Korean undergraduates tend to have unhealthy patterns. In the case of the students living without family, experiencing more stressful life events and perceiving lower social support, health behaviors are poor. The relationship between perceived social supports, the frequency of the experienced stressful life events and the score of health behavior patterns is statistically significant. After controlling the effect of social support, the correlation coefficient between the frequency of experienced stressful life events and the score of health behavior patterns was slightly lower. The score of health behaviors between the group with an extremely high score of social support and the group with an extremely low score were statistically significantly different. CONCLUSION: Future studies need to be pursued to develop various strategies such as a health education programs and counseling programs for health maintenance and health promotion of undergraduates.

PURPOSE: The exercise status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, associations between exercise behavior and personal factors, and associations between exercise behavior and exercise-specific cognitions and their effects were assessed. METHOD: Four hundred thirty nine outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis were studied. The exercise status was measured by a single item. The intensity was multiplied by the frequency and duration of each exercise. The product of these intensity values for all exercises was defined as exercise behavior. Based on the Pender's revised health promotion model, exercise benefit, barrier, self-efficacy, enjoyment and social support were chosen as exercise specific cognitions and affect variables. Path analysis was used to identify the predictors of exercise behavior. Results: Compared to the duration before being diagnosed, the number of subjects who exercised regularly increased after being diagnosed. However over half of the subjects refrain from any sort of exercise and the type of exercise is very limited. Among the variables, exercise barrier, self-efficacy, and social support were found to be significant predictors of exercise behavior, and only previous exercise experience was found to be significant predictors of all behavior specific cognitions and affect variables. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that studies should explore exercise behaviors and strategies to emphasize the cognitive-motivational messages to promote exercise behaviors.

The purpose of the present study is 1) to explain major effect models (main, moderating, and mediating) of social support and statistical methods for testing the effect models and 2) to analyze and evaluate the consistency in the use of the effect models and its statistical methods in Korean nursing studies. A total of 57 studies were selected from Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing, Journal of Korean Academic Society of Adult Nursing, Journal of Korean Women's Health Nursing Academic Society, Journal of Fundamentals of Nursing, Journal of Korean Community Nursing, Journal of Korean Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Academic Society, and Journal of Korean Pediatric Nursing Academic Society published in the year of 1990-1999. In results, most studies on social support performed in Korea Nursing Society were about a main effect model. There are few studies on moderating or mediating model of social support. Thus, it was difficult to find research findings how, why, under what conditions social support impacted on health outcomes. Most studies on the moderating or mediating effect model of social support used statistical methods for testing main effect model rather than for testing moderating or mediating effect model. That is, there are inconsistency between effect models of social support and its statistical methods in Korean nursing researches. Therefore, it is recommended to perform studies on moderating or mediating effect model and use appropriate statistical methods.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of social support intervention on mood and maternal confidence of premature's mothers. The social support intervention is known to induce improved mood state and provide information on caretaking so as to increase the maternal confidence in the mother of a premature. To systematically investigate its effect, this study employed a nonequivalent randomized post-repeated quasi-experimental design. The intervention was given individually to mothers of prematures five times spanning five weeks. The sample consisted of the 50 mothers (experimental 27, control 23) of a premature. The data were collected using the structured questionaires twice as post tests. Various instruments were used in this study. The POMS developed by Lee(1990) was used to measure the mothers' mood state, Mother and Baby Scales by Wolke et al (1987). The results are as follows: 1. For the hypothesis test to see the effect of the social support intervention, the mean of the experimental group and the control group was compared by means of t-test and the following results are obtained. Hypothesis I. "The mood state of mothers with social support intervention is more positive than that of the mothers without such intervention." was not statistically supported and thus discarded (t=.799, p=.429). However the mean scores were 49.68 and 51.38 for the experimantal and control group, respectively, indicating more positive mood for the experimental group. Hypothesis II. "The maternal confidence of mothers with social support intervention is higher than that of the mothers without the intervention." was statistically supported (t=3.667, p=.001). 2. The mean score of the mood state was highest before discharge (52.29), meaning most negative, declined to 49.68 shortly after the discharge, again increased a bit to 50.07 at four weeks after the discharge, and stabilized to 49.22 around six weeks after the discharge. On the other hand the mean score of the maternal confidence was continuously increased with time. In view of the above results, it is concluded that the social support intervention with a preprogrammed protocol has the definite positive effect on increasing the maternal confidence and positive effect on improving mother's mood state.

The main purpose of this study was to identify the relationship of self efficacy and social support to the psychosocial adjustment in people with epilepsy. Data were collected from October 1 to October 15, 1999 from 101 people with epilepsy who were being treated regularly at one of the university hospitals located in Seoul. The research instruments were a questionnaire to gather demographic and disease-specific data, the Epilepsy Psycho- Social Effects Scale developed by Chaplin et al(1990), the Epilepsy Self Efficacy Scale developed by DiIorio et al(1992a) and translated by Park(1999), the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire developed by Norbeck et al(1981) and translated by Oh(1985). Data were analyzed using the SPSS program. The results are as follow : 1. Of the 14 psychosocial adjustment areas, 75 of 101 subjects experienced problems in ten or more areas and 28 in all 14 areas. The severity of the psychosocial adjustment problem was moderate or more in six areas. 2. The score for self efficacy was an average of 1103.86 out of a possible 1800, for social support 117.57 for total functional out of a possible 720, and 48.21 for total network out of a possible 264. There were an average of five people on the network. The main network people were parents, brothers and sisters, spouse, friends. 3. Of the 14 psychosocial adjustment areas, six areas correlated with self efficacy and 'problems with taking medication' area had a negative correlation with social support. In conclusion, people with epilepsy have various problems in psychosocial adjustment. Nursing interventions using self efficacy should be developed to improve psychosocial adjustment in people with epilepsy. Also, instruments and interventions for regimen-specific supports which are suitable for epilepsy should be developed.

The purpose of this study was to identity the level of burden, social support and quality of life of the subjects. The subjects of this study were 68 mothers of nephrotic syndrome patients whose children were hospitalized in one pediatric ward of the University Hospital in Seoul. The data was collected using questionnaires, and the period of the data collection was from Nov. 15 to Dec. 31, 1999. The instruments used for this study were the Burden Measurement Instrument developed by Montgomery et. al(1985), social support measurement instrument designed Brandt an Weinert(1978) and Quality of life scale designed by Ro,Yoo JA(1988). The data analysis was done by SPSS, t-test, ANOVA and the Pearson correlation coefficient. The results of were as follows. 1. The level of burden showed a mean score of 54.47, the level of social support, a mean score of 86.00 and the level quality of life, a mean score of 140.20. 2. The level of burden differed according to mother's religion, patient's purpose for admission and perceived patient's condition by mothers. 3. The level of social support and the level of quality of life differed according to perceived patient's condition by mothers. 4. There was a negative correlation between burden and social support(r=-.348, p<.001). Also, burden was negatively related with quality of life(r=-3.97, p<.001). Social support was positively related with quality of life(r=.064, p<.001).

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceived burden of the stroke patient's caregiver and related factors to analyze relationships between perceived burden and social supports. A convenient sample of 225 caregivers who take care for a stroke patient at home participated in this study. Caregiver's perceived burden was measured by the objective and subjective burden scale developed by Montgomery (1985). Related factors of burden were studied in terms of the patient's instrumental activties of daily living, cognitive function, caregiver's demographic variables and caregiver's illness intrusiveness. The results were as follows: (1) The mean of objective burden score was 4.5, and subjective burden score was 3.1. These scores show that caregivers perceive moderate level of burden. (2) Caregivers' objective burden was significantly related to caregivers's illness intrusiveness (r=.62), patient's IADL (r=-.33), and patient's cognitive function (r=-.15). The subjective burden was related to the caregiver's illness intrusiveness (r=.29), the patient's IADL (r=.24), and the caregiver's age(r=.23). (3) The percentage of stroke caregivers who perceived physical support was 49.1%. The percentage of those who perceived emotional support was 61.0%, and those who perceived financial support totaled 37.6%. (4) Caregivers who received any type of social supports perceived lower subjective burden, and caregivers who received physical or psychological support perceived lower objective burden. These results emphasized the necessity of a rehabilitation programs for stroke patients and support program for family caregivers.

This study was conducted to identify the attributes constituting Korean social support and to validate the results of the previous study 'Search for the meaning of social support in Korean Society.' The informants were 41 Korean middle-aged women in three cities : Seoul, Dagjun and Daeku. The data were collected through indepth interviews using the interview guide from Jun. 1994 to Jun. 1995. The interview guide was developed in the simulated situations of 'Stroke attack' which expected to be in need of social support. The women were asked to answer what they felt and the appropriated terms representing the situations. Data analysis were conducted by content analysis. consequently, the Koran social support pyramid was modified as follows ; Support is the apex of the pyramid. The four sides of the pyramid are made up of 'Jung'(Bound by ties of affection, regard or shared common experience, Connectedness), Do-oom(both emotional and material help), Mi-dum(Faith or belief in) and Sa-Rang(Love). The base of the pyramid is 'yun'(the basic network of relationships in Korean culture) that connote the meaning of Eunhae(Benevolence), Euimu(duty, responsibility) and Dori(obligation).

An explanatory design was employed to identify the relationship of physical, emotional & social readjustment and social support of post hospitalized stroke patients and their caregiver. A convenient sample of 254 patients who given follow-up care at the outpatient department after discharge and 225 caregivers were recruited. Mental Status Questionnaire(MSQ), Social Support Inventory Stroke Survivors(SSISS), Illness intrusiveness(II), Instument Activity of Daily Living(IADL), Center of Epidnmilogic Studies-Depression(CES-D), social activity and caregiver burden were used for measurement in this study. Results showed patient's physical level measured by IADL and psychological level measured by depression were high. But social activity was low. Cognitive function, depression & social activity were not significantly different by the posthospitalized period, but IADL was. The source of professional support was mostly the physician at the outpatient department. The family support was found significantly related to patient's depression & social activity and caregiver's subjective related to patient's IADL & depression. ILLness intrusiveness as a mediating variable was a significantly predicting power on patient's IADL & depression. The path analysis was used to identify the variables to predict the physical, emotional, and social status of patients, the physical, emotional, and cognitive function, illness intursiveness and professional support significantly predicted the level of siveness and family support significantly predicted the level of depression ; and patient's age and family support significantly predicted the level of social activity of posthospitalized stroke patients. Based upon these results, the rehabilitation programs to reduce the illness intrusiveness and improve cognitive function were recommended for the readjustment of the stroke patients. This model of the readjustment of the posthospitalized stroke patients is recommended as the framework for care of the stroke patients.

The main purpose of this study was to identify the effects of group social support and individual social support on the reduction of burden and improvement in family functioning of families with asthmatic children. The design of this study was a randomized pre-posttest quasi-experimental design to compare the two experimental groups. The theoretical framework for this study was derived from the study of burden in family caregivers by Suh and Oh(1993) based on the main effect model of social support theories. The data were collected from February 12, 1998 to May 29, 1998 at the pediatric out patient department of a university hospital located in Suwon city. The sample consisted of 39 family members who were identified as families with asthmatic children, Eighteen subjects were randomly assigned to the group social support group and 21 were assigned to the individual social support group. Group and individual social support members were seen for 60 to 90 minutes, four times over one to three weeks. The instruments used in this study were the Burden Scale developed by Suh and Oh(1993), the Visual Analogue Scale, and the Family Adaptability Cohesion Evaluation Scale(FACES-III) developed by Olson, Portner, and Lavee(1985). The collected data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney test, x2-test, Wilcoxon sign rank test, t-test, ANOVA(Scheff), pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression, and social support process and content analysis. The results are as follow ; 1. There was no significant difference before the experimental treatment among the subjects in the group social support group and individual social support group for general characteristics, burden, or family functioning. 2. Hypothesis 1 ; "There will be a greater reduction on the burden score of the group social support group compared to the individual social support group" was not statistically significant(U=174.5, p=.683). The burden scores showed a significant decrease after participation in social support as compared to before participation for both groups. However there was a tendency for more reduction in the burden scores for the group social support than for individual social support. 3. Hypothesis 2 ; "There will be a greater improvement in the family functioning scores for the group social support group compared to the individual social support group" was not statistically significant(U=153.0, p=.309). There was a tendency toward improvement in the family functioning scores of the group social support as compared to that of the individual social support. 4. According to the length of the treatment period, families with asthmatic children displayed affirmative responses, and the families set up a self-help group of mothers with asthmatic children n order to share their experiences, to get information and to solve their problems. In conclusion, it was found that group social support was the more effective nursing intervention for reducing burden and for improving family functioning of families with asthmatic children.

This study was designed to construct a model that predicts the health promoting behavior of the Korean elderly. Data were collected by self-reported questionnaires from 254 Korean elderly in seoul, from June 1 to July 15, 1998. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and correlational analysis using pc-SAS program. The Linear Structural Modeling(LISREL) 8.0 program was used to find the best fit model which predicts causal relationships of variables. The overall fit of the hypothetical model to the data was moderate[X2=249.83(df=83, p=.00), RMR=.07, GFI=.90, NNFI=.92, NFI=.91]. The predictable variables of health promoting behavior of the Korean elderly were social activity, social support, self-integrity and helplessness except the perceived health status. These variables explained 17.1% of health promoting behavior of the Korean elderly.

This study was conducted to identity the degree of burden and social support perceived by mothers of nephrotic syndrome patients. Also, relations between burden and social support were investigated to provide basis data for their family health and nursing intervention. The study subjects were mothers of nephrotic syndrome patients whose children were hospitalized in 2 Pediatric wards of University Hospital in Seoul and 1 in Pusan from Jun. 1, 1998 to Jun. 30, 1998. Burden measurement instrument for this study was designed by the researcher and its basis in one developed by Montgomery et al.(1985) and the reliability was .78. Also. P.R.Q. Part I II, by Brandt and Weinert(1981) was used as social support measurement instrument and the reliability .71. The data analysis was done by SPSS, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation. The result were as follows. 1. Burden felt by mothers shows an average value of 60.82 (Maximum 86, Standard deviation 1.244). 2. Of the mother characteristics, the score of burden was high in case of no religion and low income. Of the patient characteristics, the score burden ranked as high MCNS, doing oral therapy, injection therapy at the same time and negative perceived patients condition. 3. The mean score of support was 77.54(Maximum 96, Standard deviation 1.096). 4. The main supporters were husband(the highest), brother, sister, health speciality and the subject expressed the highest satisfaction toward supporters in chronic disease. 5. Of the patient characteristics, the higher age group and the elder group showed high support. Also, positive perceived patients condition, high support. 6. The relationship between burden and social support is not significant. In conclusion to the above study, the researcher suggests. 1. The Qualitative research to investigate influential factors on burden of family of nephrotic syndrome patients in needed.

This study was done to determine the factors influencing smoking-cessation behavior in female university students. a total of 534 students participated in this cross sectional study by answering a questionnaire. The data collection was done between September 1 and October 31, 1997. The measurement tools used in this study were the self help change process scale(Cronbach's alpha=.9930 : developed by Oh&Kim, 1996) for smoking-cessation behaviors, the self efficacy scale(Cronbach's alpha=.8250 : developed by Sherer et al, 1982), the sex role acceptance scale(KR-20=.7757 : developed by Kim, 1991) and the social support scale(Cronbach's alpha=.9172 : developed by Park, 1985). The summarized results are follows : 1. The mean scores for smoking-cessation behaviors in smokers(N=150) was 91.72 that was considered a middle score compared to the total possible score of measurement tool(150.0). The mean score for smoking-cessation behaviors by smoking-cessation step showed significant different between the groups(F=11.71, p= .000). 2. The group with no experience in smoking(N=332) showed a high general self efficacy score(t=5.24, p= .000), and more openness to sex role acceptance(t=-2.15, p= .032) compared to the group with smoking experience(N=202). 3. General self efficacy, sex role acceptance, and social support were not different significantly between the groups according to the steps in smoking-cessation. 4. Significant factors influencing smoking-cessation behavior(total, sub concepts) were religion, sex role acceptance, social support, smoking duration, smoking attitude, time of smoking onset, amount of smoking, drinking, and perception of health status. 5. Smoking-cessation behaviors which explained 11% of the variance were smoking attitude, and smoking duration. In conclusion, this study identified factors influencing smoking-cessation behavior. Thereby it will help in the development of smoking-cessation ration other determinants of smoking cessation behaviors, evaluation of intervention efficiency, and comparative study by gender characteristics are needed.

This study was done using a Quasi-experimental research design to determine the effects of social support on compliance with sick role behavior in hypertensive patients and to know if the effect of the social support on compliance lasted for at least 6 months. The subjects consisted of 81 hypertensive patients who were registered in the Cardio-Vascular OPD at Chonnam National University Hospital. They were divided by random sampling into 42 people for the experimental group and 39 for the control group. Data were gathered from June 3, 1996 to June 10, 1997 through individual interviews using a structured questionnaire. The results of the study were summarized as follows : 1. Compliance with sick role behaviors in hypertensive clients was significantly increased in the experimental group who received social support from the nurse as compared to the control group who did not receive social support(t=15.99, p<.001). 2. The effect of social support on compliance with sick role behaviors in hypertensive clients lasted for 6 months(t=7.99, p<.001). 3. Four of six people stopped smoking in experimental group after the intervention of social support, but none of the five in control group were able to stop smoking. Fisher's Exact test showed a significant difference between the experimental and control group(x2=4.385, p<.05). Mantel Haenszel test showed that the effect of social support on stopping smoking in the experimental group lasted for six months because there were no significant differences between one month after the social support and six months after, in the number of subjects who stopped smoking(x2=1.154, p>.05). Finally, social support was effective on compliance with sick role behaviors and stopping smoking in the hypertensive clients, and the effect of social support on compliance lasted for 6 months.