Validation Of The Malay Version Of The Sources Of Social Support Scale Among Malaysian Cancer Patients

Objective: It is important to investigate the association between spousal support and psychology of cancer patients, thus a validated instrument to measure the degree of perceived spousal support is required. We translated and evaluated the psychometric properties of the Sources of Social Support Scale-Malay version (SSSS-Malay) among Malaysian cancer patients. Methods: In this study, the SSSS-Malay and Hope Scale-Malay [used to compare with the SSSS-Malay to assess discriminant validity] were administered to 195 Malaysian cancer patients during baseline assessment. The SSSS-Malay was re-administered 2 months after the baseline assessment during follow-up. Results: The SSSS-Malay total score (Cronbach’s α = 0.70, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.72) and its domains (Cronbach’s α ranging from 0.70 to 0.83, intraclass correlation coefficient ranging from 0.6 to 0.76) exhibited good internal consistencies and good test-retest reliability. The SSSS-Malay also demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validities. However, confirmatory factor analysis of the SSSSMalay showed that it was best fit into a 3-factor model instead of the 4-factor model of the original English version. Conclusion: The SSSS-Malay demonstrated good psychometric properties for use in Malaysian cancer patients.

The Influence of Stress, Spousal Support, and Resilience on the Ways of Coping among Women with Breast Cancer

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of stress, spousal support, and resilience on the types of coping among women with breast cancer. METHOD: Using a cross-sectional survey design, a total of 120 participants, diagnosed with breast cancer, had a mass removal surgery, and were fluent in Korean, were recruited at a cancer center in Seoul, Korea. Self-reported questionnaires of stress, spousal support, resilience, and ways of coping were administered upon the permission from the original developers. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 Win program. RESULT: Ways of coping was positively correlated with spousal support, resilience, and stress. Positive correlations were found between problem-focused coping, spousal support, and resilience. Positive correlations were found between emotion-focused coping with stress and resilience. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that spousal support had significant moderating effect on the relationship between stress and emotion-focused coping. CONCLUSION: Women perceived their diagnosis and surgery as more stressful, they more like to use emotion-focused coping. Women with more spousal support and resilience were found to use problem-focused coping more. Based on the findings of this study, a tailored intervention for women with breast cancer for improving their coping is expected in future research.

Factors Influencing Life Satisfaction for Mothers of Elementary School Children / 정신간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing life satisfaction for mothers with children in elementary school. METHODS: Participants were 243 mothers with a child in first and fifth degree of one elementary school in G city. Data were collected from March 20 to April 9, 2010. The instruments used were Satisfaction with Life Scale, Parent Satisfaction Scale, Korean ADHD Rating Scale, Parenting Alliance Inventory and Scale for Measuring Family Strengths. The data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 14.0 computer program and included one-way ANOVA, Scheffe back-testing, Pearson's correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: The life satisfaction of the mothers showed significantly positive correlations with parent role satisfaction, spousal support, and family strengths and negative correlations with ADHD. Significant predictors of life satisfaction for mothers with children in elementary school were spousal support and sharing of value systems, and these variables explained 37.0% of the variance in life satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that improvement of spousal support and sharing of the family value system should be helpful in promoting life satisfaction for mothers with children in elementary school.