Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science (한국산림과학회지)

Korean Society of Forest Science (한국산림과학회)
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Effect of Frequency of Using Forest Environment on Workers' Stress: a Comparative Study on Workers in Medical and Counseling Service Institution

산림환경 이용 빈도가 근로자의 스트레스에 미치는 영향: 의료 및 상담서비스기관 종사자에 대한 비교 연구

  • 정원희 (인제대학교 스트레스연구소) ;
  • 우종민 (인제대학교 스트레스연구소) ;
  • 유지수 (인제대학교 스트레스연구소)
  • Received : 2014.01.17
  • Accepted : 2014.03.12
  • Published : 2014.03.31
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Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effect of frequency of using forest environment on workers' stress. Workers in medical and counseling industry, which is recently known to require heavy emotional burden and thus cause a lot of stress and burnout syndrome, participated in the study. We classified 370 subjects, who were working at medical and counseling service institutions in Seoul metropolitan area, into two groups according to frequency of using forest environment by conducting a screening survey. 69 subjects submitted written consent and were recruited for either forest therapy program or control-group test; the "high" group (n=27) at the high frequency of using forest environment and the "low" group (n=42) at the low level. We measured the level of stress by using psychosocial indicators such as Worker's Stress Response Inventory (WSRI), Recovery Experience Questionnaire (REQ), and Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) and biological ones such as heart rate variability (HRV), cortisol, and Natural Killer cell (NK cell). The results suggested that the level of stress differed by frequency. The "high" group showed significantly low scores in the depression and work sub-scale and the total score of WSRI, emotional exhaustion, professional efficacy and total score of MBI-GS, and high scores in the total score of REQ. Similar tendencies were observed in the most of other indicators of psychosocial measures. Regarding the biological indicators, the "high" group showed the highest SDNN, RMSSD and TP measures of HRV and NK Cell activity and the low cortisol, although the statistical power did not reach the significant level. Our results suggest that the subjects who use forest environment frequently show favorable stress level both psychologically and biologically.

본 연구는 산림환경 이용 빈도에 따라 근로자의 스트레스 수준에 어떤 차이가 있는지를 알아보고자 했다. 이를 위해 정서적 스트레스와 소진 경험이 많은 것으로 알려진 감정노동 직업군 중에서 연구대상자를 선정했다. 수도권 소재 의료기관과 상담기관의 직원 370명을 대상으로 사전 설문조사를 실시하여 산림이용 빈도에 따라 이들을 분류했다. 이후 캠프와 대조군 검사에 서면으로 참여의사를 밝힌 인원을 모집한 결과, 최종적으로 산림환경 이용 빈도가 높은 집단이 27명, 산림환경 이용 빈도가 낮은 집단 42명의 총 69명이 연구에 참여하였다. 이들을 대상으로 Worker's Stress Response Inventory (WSRI), Recovery Experience Questionnaire (REQ), Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS)와 같은 심리사회적 변인과 심박변이도(heart rate variability), 코티솔(cortisol), 자연살해세포(Natural Killer cell) 등의 생물학적 변인 검사를 실시한 결과, 산림환경 이용 빈도에 따라 스트레스 수준에 차이가 나타나는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 산림이용 빈도 "높음" 집단은 우울, 직무증상과 스트레스 반응 총점(WSRI)이 "낮음" 집단에 비해 유의미하게 적었으며, 스트레스에서의 회복경험 총점(REQ) 역시 통계적으로 유의하게 "낮음" 집단보다 높았다. MBI-GS의 정서적 고갈과 직업성취감 감소, 총점에서도 "높음" 집단이 유의하게 낮은 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 대부분의 다른 지표에서도 동일한 경향성이 관찰되었다. 생물학적 변인에서는 통계적으로 유의한 결과는 없었으나 "높음" 집단은 심박변이도의 SDNN 및 RMSSD, TP 지표와 자연살해세포 활성도에서 높은 수치를 나타내었고, 코티솔은 낮았다. 이 결과는 평소 산림환경을 자주 이용하는 사람들이 심리사회적인 스트레스가 낮고, 생물학적으로도 더 스트레스를 적게 받는 상태에 있음을 의미한다.

Keywords

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