Stressors and Coping Behaviors among the $5^{th}$.$6^{th}$ Graders at Gwangju City

광주지역 초등학교 5, 6학년 아동의 스트레스 요인과 대처방식조사

The purpose of this study was to identify the stressors and coping behaviors among the 5th 6th graders at Gwangju city. The subjects were 352 elementary school students and the data were collected by self-reported questionnaire from June 19 to July 21, 2003. Study instrument to investigate stressors was developed 40-items summated scale (${\alpha}$ = .87) with four subcategories: 8-items individualistic (${\alpha}$ = .72), ll-items family life-related (${\alpha}$= .70), 14-items school life-related (${\alpha}$= .76) and 7 socio-environmental (${\alpha}$= .63) factors. And the instrument to examine stress coping behaviors was also developed 30-items summated scale (${\alpha}$= .82) with three subcategories: 10-items active (${\alpha}$= .72), 10-passive (${\alpha}$= .75), and 10-mystic (${\alpha}$ = .70) coping behaviors. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA using SPSS/PC+ program. The results were summarized as follows: Mean score of stressors was $66.6{\pm}14.45$ out of 160. There were no significant differences in total scores of stressors in terms of gender, grade, number of siblings and the school location The score of individualistic stressors, on the other hand, was tended to be significant higher in the 6th graders (t = -2.155, p = .032) and the school children in Gwangsangu district where has mixed rural and urban characteristics (F = 2.400, p = .049). Mean score of stress coping behaviors was $61.3{\pm}12.24$ out of 120. It was significantly different in terms of number of siblings (t = 2.108, p = .036) and the school location (F = 4.928, p = .001). In several subcategories, the mean scores of active coping behaviors were significantly higher in the only children group (t = -2.127, p = .034) and Donggu district where traditional downtown area (F = 2.410, p = .050). and passive (F = 4.013, p = .003) and mystic coping (F = 2.720, p= .030) were also significantly higher in the same district. In conclusion, the score of stressors of children in Gwangju city showed relatively low as that of other areas, and the children utilized active coping behaviors more frequently in various stressful situations.