Study on the Obese Students' Stress and Coping Method in Middle and High Schools

비만 중.고등학생의 스트레스와 대처방법에 관한 연구

This study attempted to identify obese students' stress and coping method in middle and high schools. The data were collected from the total of 600 obese students from middle and high schools in Pusan. The author used a convenience sampling method. The data collection was done from March 2 to April 30. 2001. The analysis of the data was done with SPSS Win(10.0) for descriptive statistics. t-test. and ANOVA. The instrument used for the obese students' stress and coping method was a questionnaire developed by Kim. Yi-Soon and Kim. Young-Hae(200l). The tool was composed of 65 items (33stress items: 32coping method items) with the five-point Likert scale. The results were as follow: 1. The average score of stress was 2.49 (SD = .86) points in the male students. and 2.83(SD= .86) points in the female students. The subcategories were: (outward appearance), (boyfriend/girlfriend), (occurrence of an outbreak of a disease), (relationship within the family), (an obese appearance), (difficulty in exercise). The highest degree of stress came from 'an obese appearance' for the male students (mean=2.64. SD=0.87) and (mean=2.64. SD=0.87) for the female students. 2. The subcategories of the coping method were: (be concerned about other matters), (recreation activities), (self-violence), (relaxation), (hobby activities), (avoid a situation), (communication), (music), (negative behavior), (positive thinking). The highest degree of coping method were (recreation activities) in the male students (mean=3.07. SD=0.86) and (music) in the female students (mean=3.47. SD=1.01). 3. The results comparing stress with demographic variables were significant for gender (t=7.010. p=0.000). grades at school (F=2.918. p=0.02l), degree of obesity (F=5.205. p=0.006). grades (F=2.550. p=0.027). standard of living(F=8.277. p=0.000). the state of health (F=2.882, p=0.022), relationship with the father (F=4.790, p=0.001), relationship with the mother (F=6.080, p=0.000), and the educational level of the father (F=3.192, p=0.013). 4. The results comparing the coping method with demographic variables were significant for gender (t=4.597. p=0.000). These findings contribute to the understanding of the degree of stress and the type of coping methods of obese students in middle and high schools. Therefore, the result of this study aids in an effective nursing intervention to improve the mental health program for the obese.