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Choe, Kwon, and Cha: Boarding High School Students' Life Stress and Coping Skills
Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 2011; 20(1): 25-36.

Published online: 31 March 2011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2011.20.1.25

Boarding High School Students' Life Stress and Coping Skills

Kwisoon Choe1, Sung Bok Kwon2, Hye Gyeong Cha1

1Full-time Lecturer, Department of Nursing, Woosuk University, Korea.

2Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, Dongshin University, Korea.

Address reprint requests to: Cha, Hye-Gyeong, Department of Nursing, Woosuk University, Samnye-eup, Wanju 565-701, Korea. Tel: 82-63-290-1760, Fax: 82-63-290-1548, chamnurse@hanmail.net

Received 30 November 2010       Revised 14 March 2011       Accepted 16 March 2011

© 2011 The Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

(open-access):

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

This study was done to explore life stress and coping skills of boarding high school students.

Methods

Triangulation (quantitative and qualitative) research method was used through three stages. First, 47 high school students were interviewed to identify life stressors. Second, 208 students were surveyed via internet questionnaires to assess stress level for each stressor. Lastly, in order to survey stress coping skills, 61 students answered 10 subjective questions orally or in writing.

Results

Thirty-seven life stressors in five categories were identified through thematic content analysis of the interviews: dormitory life, appearance and self management, human relations, study, and other areas. Stresses from schoolwork were highest and participants also experienced stress from their dormitory life. The overall stress level was higher in girls than in boys, and students in their 2nd year perceived their stress as higher than those in other grades. Various stress coping skills were being used, and positive coping skills were commonly used.

Conclusion

To improve quality of life of boarding high school students, various strategies are needed to reduce their life stress. Especially, girls are in need of special concern and care because of their vulnerability to stress.

Keywords: Life stress, Coping skills, Students

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Stressors of Boarding High School Students

jkapmhn-20-25-i001

GAP=grade point average.

Table 2

General Characteristics of Subjects and their Level of Stress (N=208)

jkapmhn-20-25-i002
Table 3

The Level of Stress to Stressors (N=208)

jkapmhn-20-25-i003

GAP=grade point average.

Table 4

Gender Differences in the Level of Stress (N=208)

jkapmhn-20-25-i004
Table 5

Grade Differences in the Level of Stress (N=208)

jkapmhn-20-25-i005

Notes

This study was supported by Woosuk University (2010).

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