Yeo Jin Im

The influence of family management style on psychosocial problems of childhood cancer survivors in Korea

PURPOSE To examine the psychosocial problems of childhood cancer survivors in Korea and investigate whether such problems are influenced by family management style. METHODS Family members of 158 childhood cancer survivors answered a questionnaire on demographic and illness characteristics, described psychosocial problems in their children using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), and completed the Family Management Measure (FaMM). RESULTS Perceived economic status and all six subscales of the FaMM were significantly correlated with childrens psychosocial problems. In a multiple regression model, the Family Life Difficulty and Parental Mutuality scales of the FaMM were each independent predictors of psychosocial problems in young cancer survivors. CONCLUSIONS A detailed care plan designed to (1) promote balance between the management of a childs condition and normal family life and (2) encourage parents to share their feelings with one another and provide mutual support should be required to improve psychosocial outcomes for childhood cancer survivors.

Validity and Reliability of Korean Version of the Family Management Measure (Korean FaMM) for Families with Children having Chronic Illness

PURPOSE To develop and test the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Family Management Measure (Korean FaMM) to assess applicability for families with children having chronic illnesses. METHODS The Korean FaMM was articulated through forward-backward translation methods. Internal consistency reliability, construct and criterion validity were calculated using PASW WIN (19.0) and AMOS (20.0). Survey data were collected from 341 mothers of children suffering from chronic disease enrolled in a university hospital in Seoul, South Korea. RESULTS The Korean version of FaMM showed reliable internal consistency with Cronbachs alpha for the total scale of .69-.91. Factor loadings of the 53 items on the six sub-scales ranged from 0.28-0.84. The model of six subscales for the Korean FaMM was validated by expiratory and confirmatory factor analysis (χ²<.001, RMR<.05, GFI, AGFI, NFI, NNFI>.08). Criterion validity compared to the Parental Stress Index (PSI) showed significant correlation. CONCLUSION The findings of this study demonstrate that the Korean FaMM showed satisfactory construct and criterion validity and reliability. It is useful to measure Korean familys management style with their children who have a chronic illness.

Parenting and relationship characteristics in mothers with their children having atopic disease

This study compared parental cognitions and relationship characteristics of mothers of children with atopic disease with those of mothers of children without atopic disease. These factors include child-rearing attitudes, parental locus of control, parental sense of competence, attachment security, and maternal sensitivity. Preplanned subanalyses were carried out according to specific disease, mothers’ perception of disease severity, and presence of concurrent atopic diseases. The descriptive comparative study of 233 Korean mothers included 102 mothers of children aged six years or younger with atopic dermatitis, asthma, and/or allergic rhinitis. Data were collected from 2007 to 2008 from local clinics and day care centers. Parental cognitions and relationship characteristics did not differ significantly between groups of mothers, except that mothers of children with atopic dermatitis showed less affection. However, subanalyses showed that mothers who perceived their child’s disease to be severe were less likely to encourage autonomy and had a lower sense of competence, more rejecting attitudes, and an external locus of control. Although we should be cautious in generalizing these results, special care plans are strongly recommended for mothers of children with severe atopic disease to provide support and education, help mothers develop an internal locus of control, and increase parental sense of competence.

Resilience as a protective factor for the behavioral problems in school-aged children with atopic dermatitis

This study investigates the relationships between resilience and behavioral problems in school-aged children with atopic dermatitis (AD) and identifies factors associated with these behavioral problems. A total of 102 school-aged children suffering from chronic AD were administered a self-report questionnaire on resilience, and the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist, to measure their internalizing/externalizing behavioral problems. The means of the internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems of children with AD were 6.58 and 7.26, respectively. Both resilience and economic status were negatively correlated with the internalizing, r = −0.262, p < 0.05, and externalizing, r = −0.248, p < 0.05, behaviors in children. The higher the children’s school achievements, the less externalizing behavioral problems were reported, r = −0.327, p < 0.05. Resilience was identified as the single potent variable affecting children’s behavioral problems. The higher the children’s resilience scores, the lower was the chance of both internalizing, β = −1.648, p = 0.034, and externalizing behavioral problems, β = −1.382, p = 0.041. To prevent possible behavioral problems in children with chronic AD, a care plan enhancing their resilience (i.e. promoting parenting skills and social supports for children) should be developed.

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Transcultural Self-efficacy Scale for Nurses

PURPOSE This methodological study was conducted to develop and psychometrically test the Transcultural Self-efficacy scale (TCSEscale) for nurses. METHODS Initial 41 items for the TCSE-scale were generated based on extensive literature reviews and in-depth interviews with 18 nurses who had experience in caring for foreign patients. Cultural Competence and Confidence model was used as a conceptual framework. Content validity was evaluated by an expert panel. Psychometric testing was performed with a convenience sample of 242 nurses recruited from four general hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area and Gyeonggi-do province of South Korea. To evaluate the reliability of TCSE-scale, a test-retest reliability and an internal consistency reliability were analyzed. Construct validity, concurrent validity, criterion validity, convergent validity and discriminative validity were used to evaluate the validity. RESULTS The 25-item TCSE-scale was found to have three subscales-Cognitive, Practical, and Affective domain-explaining 91.5% of the total variance. TCSE-scale also demonstrated a concurrent validity with the Cultural Competence Scale. Criterion-related validity was supported by known-group comparison. Reliability analysis showed an acceptable-to-high Cronbachs alpha-.88 in total, and subscales ranged from .76 to .87. The ICC was .90, indicating that the TCSE-scale has internal consistency and stability of reliability. CONCLUSION This preliminary evaluation of the psychometric scale properties demonstrated an acceptable validity and reliability. The TCSE-scale is able to contribute to building up empirical and evidence based on data collection regarding the transcultural self-efficacy of clinical nurses. We suggest further testing of the applicability of TCSE-scale in different settings and community contexts.

Factors affecting the cultural competence of visiting nurses for rural multicultural family support in South Korea

BackgroundWith the recent growth of multicultural families in the Korean society, the importance of the role of qualified visiting nurses in the delivery of culturally sensitive health care has grown dramatically. As the primary health care provider for multicultural families enrolled in public community-based health care centers, the cultural competence of visiting nurses is an essential qualification for the provision of quality health care for multicultural families, especially in rural areas. Cultural competence of visiting nurses is based on their cultural awareness and empathetic attitude toward multicultural families. This study aimed to examine the levels of cultural competence, empowerment, and empathy in visiting nurses, and to verify the factors that affect the cultural competence of visiting nurses working with rural multicultural families in South Korea.MethodsEmploying a cross-sectional descriptive study design, data from 143 visiting nurses working in rural areas were obtained. Data collection took place between November 2011 and August 2012. The measurement tools included the modified Korean version of the Cultural Awareness Scale, the Text of Items Measuring Empowerment, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index to measure the level of empathy of visiting nurses. Analyses included descriptive statistics, a t-test, an ANOVA, a Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, and a multiple linear regression analysis.ResultsThe cultural competence score of the visiting nurses was 3.07 on a 5-point Likert scale (SD = 0.30). The multiple regression analysis revealed that the cultural competence of visiting nurses was significantly influenced by experience of cultural education, empathy, and scores on the meaning subscale of the empowerment tool (R2 = 10.2%).ConclusionsInstitutional support to enhance visiting nurses’ empowerment by assuring the significance of their job and specific strategies to enhance their empathy would be helpful to improve the cultural competence of visiting nurses. Additionally, regular systematic education on culturally sensitive care would be helpful to enable visiting nurses to provide culturally sensitive care for multicultural families.