STRESS

Volume 12(2); June 2004

Review Articles

Stress and nutrition: Tai-Woo Yu, M.D.,Ph.D.; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):1-8. Published online September 30, 2004

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Abstract PDF: Stress consists of stressor and stress reaction. Repetitive stressors make human body sensitive - conditioning, and this affects personality and behavior. Conditioned reaction can be reversed by deconditoning process. I propose the dynamic integrative model for human health and diseases which integrates human body, mind, environment and the choices each individual can make. The Koreans are taking largely an appropriate nutrition except high salt intake, low calcium intake and excessive use of eating-outs. Stress affects nutrition and vice versa. Stress provokes various nutrition-related diseases, and poor nutrition decreases coping ability to stress. Nutritional support for stress includes maintenance of optimal nutrition, moderation of alcohol and caffeine intake, sufficient intake of vitamins and minerals. Sometimes dietary supplements can be of help.

Stress and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: In-Kyung Sung; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):9-16. Published online September 30, 2004

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Abstract PDF: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common disorder diagnosed by gastroenterologists and one of the more common ones encountered in general practice. The overall prevalence rate is similar (approximately 10%) in most industrialized counties; the illness has a large economic impact of health care use and indirect costs, chiefly through absenteeism. IBS is a puzzing condition with multple models of pathophysiology including altered motility, visceral hypersensitivity, abnormal brain-gut interaction, autonomic dysfunction, and immune activation. The new guidelines for diagnosing IBS in clinical practice recommend the use of the Rome II criteria. Stress often worsens the symptoms of IBS. Stress induced exaggeration of the neuroendocrine response and visceral perceptual alterations during and after stress may explain some of the stress related gastrointestinal symptoms in IBS. Understanding the brain-gut axis is key to the eventual development of effective therapies for IBS. Treatment of patients is based on positive diagnosis of the symptom complex, limited exclusion of underlying organic disease, and institution of a therapeutic trial. If patient symptoms are intractable, further investigations are needed to exclude specific motility or other disorders. Symptomatic treatment includes supplementing fiber to achieve a total intake of up to 30 g in those with constipation, those taking loperamide of other opioids for diarrhea, and those taking low-dose antidepressants of infrequently using antispasmodics for pain. Behavioral psychotherapy and hypnotherapy are also being evaluated. Novel approaches include alosetron; a 5-HT3 antagonist, tegaserod, a partial 5-HT4 agonist, -opioid agonists, and neurokinin antagonists to address the remaining challenging symptoms of pain, constipation, and bloating.

Understanding and Treatment of Psychosomatic Disorders: Bum-Hee Yu,M.D.,Ph.D.; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):17-20. Published online September 30, 2004

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Abstract PDF: Psychosomatic medicine focuses on the unity of mind and body the interactions between them. Stress can affect various illnesses in the following ways. First, psychological factors induce changes of behavior, which result in physical changes. Second, general stress responses related to the past, bad, psychological experiences can affect organs which become vulnerable to stress by genetic defects, tissue damage in the past, and environmental physical factors. Third, stress-related hormones and other chemical substances result in organic and psychological changes, which lead to disintegration of self defense and aggregate ego function to a more primitive state. Fourth, individuals react to stress with ineffective coping strategies, which make their enviromental situations become more stressful. Stress has been suggested to induce various psychosomatic disorders through 3 body systems; autonomoc nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system. Typical psychosomatic disorders are gastrointesitinal reflux disease, peptic ulcer, irritable bowel syndrome, coronary heart disease, hypertension, vasovagal syncope, hyperventilation syndrome, bronchial asthma, obesity, hyper/hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, prementrual dysphoric disorder, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, fibromylgia, miraine and tension headache, etc. Psychiatric treatment of psychosomatic disorders include psychotherapy, behavior therapy, and pharmacotherapy. Pharmacotherapy of psychosomatic disorders includes use of antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. Physicians need to know pharmacological characteristics and adverse effects of various antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs.

Original Articles

A Comparison of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory(MMPI) Response pattern between brain injured and PTSD patients following Traffic Accident: Young-Sook Park^*; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):21-34. Published online September 30, 2004

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Abstract PDF: The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in the characterstics of response pattern of patients who were brain injured and were not brain injured but suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder using self-report psycholodical test, MMPI-Korean version. Total of 47 subjects participated in the study, who were divided into two groups: Twenty-one subjects who were brain injured (BIG) in one group and 26 subjects wiht post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in second group. In order to compare the response pattern differences between BIG and PTSD, cluster analysis of MMPI was administered. The results of this study were as follow: 1) Group 1 of the BIG, which constituted 2/3 of the entire subjects, showed score of T 60 in the clinical scale 1 and 3, which can be further interpreted as having reactive pattern. 2) Group 2 of BIG scored over T 80 points in F validity scale and 8 clinical scale, and over T 70 points in 1,2,3,6,7 clinical scales which appeared as high-diffuse response pattern. 3) Group 1 which constituted 2/3 of PTSD group scored over T 70 points in F validity scale, 8 and 6 clinical scales, and scored over T 60 points in 1,2,3 and 7 clinical scales. Group 1 of PTSD showed high-diffuse response pattern. 4) Group 2 of PTSD scored T 60 points in 1,2,3 scales which showed reactive pattern. Based on these results, it was found that MMPI response pattern of BIG' s group 1 and PTSD's group 2 were identical and that BIG group 2 and PTSD group 1 were also similar. These results were further analyzed from psychological perspectives and also suggestions were provided for further research.

The factors affecting job stress of University officers: Jooh-Yun Kim, Sung-Jae Kim, Chung-Sik Choi^*, Eun-Mi Ham^**, Hee-Jung Choi^**; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):35-42. Published online September 30, 2004

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Abstract PDF: The environments of the universities in korea change rapidly now. Managers of universities should try to decrease employee's job stress for increasing adaptability of their employees to the changing environment. For that, they should know what factors affect thier job stress. Thus, this study has been conducted to identify factors affecting job stress. The subjects of this study were 103. The instruments measuring A type character, family problems, leadership, social support, economic anxiety and job stress were used for data collection. Data were analyzed with SPSS PC+program with percentage, t-test, Pearson correlation and Multiple Regression according to characteristics of variables. The results of this study were as follows: 1. Except Marital status, there was no significant differences of job stress by demographic variables 2. The significant factors that affect job stress were family problem, social support, social support, age, and leadership.

A Study on the personality, uncertainty and way of coping of breast cancer patients: Kae-Hwa Jo^*; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):43-54.

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Abstract PDF: The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship among personality characteristics, uncertainty and way of coping of breast cancer patients. The subjects of the study were the 113 breast cancer patients treated at 3 university hospitals in Daegu and Busan from June 1 to Sep. 30, 2003. Personality characteristics was measured by using Personality Inventory(NEO-PI), uncertainty measured by using Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale(MUIS), and coping by using a questionnaire developed by Forkman & Lazarus(1984), corrected by Lee(1997). Data were analyzed with SPSS program by frequency, range, t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficients. The findings of this survery indicate 1) The mean personality characteristics item score was 2.64, uncertainty was 2.81, and way of coping was 3.35. 2) There was a significant difference between personality characteristics and uncertainty according to demographic factor. 3) There was a positive correlation between personality characteristics and way of coping(r=.35). Among subitem of coping were positively correlated with personality characteristics expecially extroversion, openness and conscientiousness. 4) There was a positive correlation between neuroticism and uncertainty(r=.36). it was found that personality characteristics, uncertainty and way of coping were essential concept for qualitative care of breast cancer patients. This study suggests that there would be further study to find out the importance and relationship between individual differences in personality characteristics and coping strategy of breast cancer patients.

The Relationship between the College Students Personal Construct Systems and Their Love Styles: Chong-Nak Son; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):55-68.

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Abstract PDF: The persent study was designed to explore the relationships among the college students' six love styles(Eros, Ludus, Storge, Pragma, Mania, and Agape), the personal construct systems(Cognitive Complexity, Threat, Actualization, and Perceptual Shift), and the passionate love and additionally the frequency of love experience, the length of time in love, the depth of love, and the importance of love. Three hundred and seventy subjects9129 male students and 241 female students) completed Love Attitude Scale, Passionate Love Scale, Present Love Experience Questionnaire, and 13 constructs × 10 elements Rep Grid. The results revealed interesting relationships among the measures. For male students, more passionate, erotic, and altruistic lovers were cognitively not complex, but pragmatic lovers showed cognitively more complex. The erotic, possessive, and passionate male students showed lower levels of threat. For female students, more altruistic love was associated with less levels of threat, and more actualization; however, passionate love was associated with more perceptual shifting. Additional interesting findings were that more times in love, being in love a longer time, being more deeply in love, and more valuing romantic love were all related to greater relationship actualization, perceptual stability, and more cognitive complexity. Finally, the results and limitations of this study were discussed and suggestions are made for future research.

Association between angiotensin converting enzyme gene I/D polymorphism and alcoholism in Korean population: You-Hee Shin, Man-Jae Kwon, S대-Hyun Yoon, Hae-Jeong Park, Sung-Vin Yim, Joo-Ho Chung^*; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):69-76.

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Abstract PDF: Stressful conditions and social situations may influence a person's alcohol consumption which can lead to the development of alcoholism. However, family, twin and adoption srudies suggest that alcoholism exhibits a genetic trait. The angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), which plays an important role in the regulation of vascular function, blood pressure and inflammation, has the insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism in intron 16 of ACE gene. Many studies have shown that ACE gene polymorphism in strongly associated with various complex diseases. To find the genetic effect on alcoholism, especially the relationship between ACE gene and alcoholism, we investigated ACE I/D polymorphism in 127 Korean male alcoholism patients and 333 healthy non-alcoholic males. The ACE gene genotype distribution (p = 0.0545, (x² = 5.8200) was not significantly different between alcoholism patients and the controls. However, the allele frequency (p =0.0269, (x²= 4.8999, odds ratio = 1.3896, 95% confidence interval = 1.0379 - 1.8605) was significantly different between alcoholism patients and control subjects. This result suggests that the ACE gene I/D polymorphism has a weak association with the development of alcoholism in Korean male population.

A meta-analysis of the effects of horticultural therapy on the depressive patients^*: Cheong-Ja, Park, Kyung-Hee, Lee^**; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):77-84.

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Abstract PDF: This study was to evaluate the effect of horticultural therapy program of the depressive patients in ten horticultural intervention studies carried out from 2001 to 2003 through meta analysis. The horticultural therapy program has high effect on the depressive patients in result.

The Effect of Social Support and Self-efficacy on Flight Attendants' Burnout in Korea: Soo-Lyoun Kwon, Young-Sook Park^*; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):85-94.

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Abstract PDF: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the perceived social support and self-efficacy on the flight attendants' burnout. Researched participants were 203 number of flight attendants working in an airline company in Korea. Burnout was measured by the questionnaire(MBI) developed by Maslach and Jackson(1981). Social support scale(Park,1985), and self-efficacy scale(Kim,1997) were used to measure each variables - perceived social support and self-efficacy. For the analysis of the data, t-test, ANOVA, Pearsons' bivariate correlation and regression analysis by using SPSS program were used to examine differences between groups. Scheffe post test was to compare pairs of groups. The results obtained in this study are summarized as follow: 1. There were significant differences depending on gender, age in burnourt. Also there was a significant difference depending on monthly working time in the perceived social support, and on gender in self-efficacy. 2. There were significant negative correlations between burnout and social support, and between burnout and self-efficacy. Thus, if the social support of the self-efficacy of flight attendants is high, their burnout is low. But between social support and self-efficacy, there was a significant positive correlation. If the social support of flight attendants is high, their self-efficacy is also high. 3. Burnout was predicted through the regression analsys. Self-efficacy was better predictor of burnout than social support. Overall, the perceived social support and self-efficacy explained 10.5% of variance of burnout. The result of this study presents one of the methods to buffer the burnout of flight attendants by enhancing cognition level of social support and improving self-efficacy.

The Influence of Cyberspace on the Problem of Alienation: Young-Min Chun, Beom-Jun Kim; Korean J Str Res. 2004;12(2):95-110.

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Abstract PDF: The study is designed to compare the degree of alienation as a dimension of human relations between those who have been involving in the computer- mediated communication and those who have not, and to help build a healthy environment for the computer users by finding ways to resolve the problem of alienation. A total of 907 college students completed the questionnaire. To estimate the degree of alienation, we borrowed Seeman's classifications of alienation. According to him, the concept is comprised of 5 sub-types: powerlessness, rnoaninglessness, normlessness, social isolation and self-estrangement. The independent variables are 1) the average time spent in the cyberspace, 2) level of interntet syndrome based on the items made by a notable psychiatrist to diagnose webaholism, and 3) the main purpose of using the computer-mediated communication; whether it is information-acquiring or pleasure-seeking. The degree of depressed feeling, the frequncy of family get-together and satisfaction with family relations, the stability and health of family, and involvement in social activities such as volunteer activities are used as control variables. The results showed that level of 'webaholism' significantly affects the degree of alienation. In other words, excessive indulgence in net activities aggravates a feeling of alienation. This warns possible negative effects of the computer-mediated communication upon the individuals' psychological well-being. In addition, the level of alienation varies with the individual's main purpose of using computer-mediated communication. People who visit internet sites or personal computer network to acquire information for academic of constructive purposes tend to show lower level of alienation. On the contrary, those who use cyberspace for leisure and pleasure reveals higher level of alienation. Interestingly enough, the academic-oriented net users show lower level of alienation than the individuals who do not participate in the computer net activities, This result suggests that network participation may attenuate our feeling of alienation if it is used in positive ways.

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