Cross-Cultural Validation and the Psychometric Properties of the Korean Version of the Brief Religious Coping Scale.

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Brief Religious Coping Scale (RCOPE) among Korean Protestant Christians to determine its reliability and validity in South Korea considering the unique characteristics of Korean Protestant Christianity. Exploratory Factor Analysis (n = 251) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 268) identified the original two-factor structure of the positive and negative religious coping subscales. Also, the scale exhibited robust reliability and construct validity. This study affirmed the scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring religious coping in Korean Christian adults.

Tracking Changes of Social Distancing in the United States of America after Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) at the Early Stage.

OBJECTIVES: This research examines social distancing changes over time, and by region of the United States after the COVID-19 pandemic began. METHODS: We utilized information on social distancing from the Google Community Mobility Reports. We performed one-way repeated-measure analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) to examine the overall changes in the 6 types of social distancing from baseline to the 12-week follow-up (March 1 to May 24, 2020). We applied a 2-way RM-ANOVA to evaluate the effects of time and 4 regions on social distancing. RESULTS: According to one-way RM-ANOVA results, social distancing tended to increase until Time 3 (March 30 to April 12) and 4 (April 13 to April 26), before decreasing again, regardless of the area. The 2-way RM-ANOVA results revealed that the social distancing variations in the 6 area types over time were statistically significant in each region, along with the interaction of regions and time. Compared to other regions, social distancing was the highest in the Northeast area, except in park areas. CONCLUSIONS: We found that social distancing can be influenced not only by contagion changes, but also by regional differences. Understanding the features of social distancing can play a significant role in helping society build a promising COVID-19 prevention model.

Patient-Provider Communication and Online Health Information Seeking among a Sample of US Older Adults.

Negative communications with health professionals are a stressor to older adults in healthcare settings. In this situation, older adults seek health information on the Internet as alternative information sources and may consider this as having the equivalent value of communicating with a health professional. This study examines the relationship between communications with health professionals and online health information seeking in older adults. This study used the Health Information National Trends Survey, Cycle 3, and included participants (N = 743) aged 65 or older who used the Internet. A multiple logistic regression was employed to examine the association of health professional communication with online health information seeking. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was applied to examine the association between health communications and three types of online health information seeking in older adults. Online health information seeking was significantly associated with negative communications with health professionals. Health communications only predicted online health information seeking by oneself, and females were more likely to search for health information on the Internet than males. The results of this study show that older adults' online health information seeking is an active coping strategy to reduce health risks and improve health promotion in healthcare.

The Relationships between Depression and Anxiety Disorder and Online Social Media for Healthcare.

Objectives: In this study, we investigated the relationships between a diagnosis of depression and anxiety disorder (DAD) and using online social media for healthcare. Online social media functions as a vital method of seeking health and disease information, providing low search costs and convenience for users. Because of these benefits, online social media can provide higher accessibility to people with mental health problems. Methods: We used propensity score matching to adjust for baseline differences and reduce confounding effects between DAD and non-DAD groups. Results: There was a statistically significant relationship between a diagnosis of DAD and the use of online social media. Conclusions: Patients with DAD are regarded as active and empowered decision-makers; social media functions as a vital method of seeking health and disease information, providing low search costs and convenience for users.

Predictors of Smartphone Uses for Health Information Seeking in the Korean Elderly.

The purpose of this research is to examine the predictors of smartphone uses for health information-seeking (SHIS) in the Korean elderly. This research applies the comprehensive model of information seeking as a theoretical framework. Data reported in this study are from the 2016 Dementia Literacy Survey, and 235 elderly smartphone users were included in logistic regression model. SHIS was significantly predicted by younger age, higher education levels, having a regular exercise, higher medical expenditures, and health literacy. The findings of this study can help social workers understand the specific features of health information seeking in the Korean elderly.

Communications with health professionals and psychological distress in family caregivers to cancer patients: A model based on stress-coping theory.

BACKGROUND: In cancer care settings, family caregivers often experience negative or little communication with the health professionals, and this negative communication and limited health-related information causes psychological distress in family caregivers to cancer patients. AIM: The first aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between communication with health professionals and psychological distress in family caregivers. The second aim is to investigate the mediating effects of self-efficacy in this hypothetical model. METHODS: A total of 1397 family caregivers were included in this research. A structural equation model was then applied, in order to examine the hypothesized model based on the stress-coping model. FINDINGS: More negative communication with health professionals was associated with higher psychological distress. Self-efficacy in health information seeking significantly mediated the relationship between communication with health professionals and psychological distress. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that as a coping resource, self-efficacy in health information seeking, plays a significant role in reducing the effects of negative communication with health professionals on psychological distress in family caregivers.

Investigating Relationships Between Health-Related Problems and Online Health Information Seeking.

Online health information seeking (OHIS) functions as a coping strategy to relieve health-related stress and problems. When people rate their health as poor or felt concern about their health, they frequently visit the Internet to seek health-related information in order to understand their symptoms and treatments. Regarding this role of OHIS, it is important to understand the relationships between health-related problems and OHIS. This study applies the Common-Sense Model as a theoretical lens to examine the relationship between health-related problems (ie, diagnosis of cancer, poor self-rated health, and psychological distress) and OHIS of adults in the US. Using the Health Information National Trends Survey 4 Cycle 1 (2012), a total of 2351 adult Internet users was included in this research. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the research model, and the model adding psychological distress resulted in a statistically significant improvement in model fit. In this study, lower levels of self-rated health and higher levels of psychological distress were significantly associated with higher odds of OHIS. Study findings support the idea that individuals' low levels of self-rated health and high levels of perceived psychological distress make people search for health-related information via the Internet in order to cope with health-related concern and distress.

Discovering the knowledge creation process of an expert group in women-friendly policy: The policy case of Seoul City.

This research explores how expert knowledge is created in the process of women-friendly policy making, based on actor network theory (ANT). To address this purpose, this study uses the "Women's Happiness in the City of Seoul" policy initiated by the local government of Seoul as one example of policy development. Research findings demonstrate that knowledge creation in expert groups followed the four stages suggested by ANT. In addition, this study found that various types of knowledge emerged from individual experts. This research elucidates the process of knowledge creation and its meanings for women-friendly policy.

Predictors of Self and Surrogate Online Health Information Seeking in Family Caregivers to Cancer Survivors.

The purpose of this research is to investigate various factors predicting online health information seeking for themselves (self OHIS) and online health information seeking for others (surrogate OHIS) in family caregivers to cancer survivors. To address this purpose, this study applies the comprehensive model of information seeking as a theoretical framework for explaining the relationships between various predictors and two types of OHIS. The data used in this study were taken from the Health Information National Trends Survey 4. A total of 1,113 family caregivers were included in this study. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the effects of predictors on Internet use for health information seeking. Caregivers' self and surrogate OHIS were commonly predicted by their self-rated health and attention to the Internet. However, age, race, and education were significantly associated with self OHIS only, while gender and marital status were significantly associated with surrogate OHIS only. These results suggest that family caregivers' self and surrogate OHIS are predicted by common factors, as well as predicted by different specific factors.

Examining the relationships between resources and online health information seeking among patients with chronic diseases and healthy people.

The Internet is increasingly used as an important source of health and medical-related information for people with chronic diseases. It is recognized that online health information seeking (OHIS) is influenced by individuals' multi-dimensional factors, such as demographics, socio-economic factors, perceptions of the Internet, and health conditions. This study applies the conservation of resource theory to examine relationships between various multi-dimensional factors, daily challenges, and OHIS depending on individuals' health conditions. The data used in this study was taken from the U.S. Health Tracking Survey (2012). In this study, Internet users aged 18 and older were classified into patients (N = 518) and healthy people (N = 677) based on their health status related to chronic diseases. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between multi-dimensional factors (resources), self-rated health, and OHIS. Patients' various resources (e.g., age, income, education, having a smartphone, and health tracking) significantly predicted their self-rated health and OHIS; in addition, self-rated health significantly mediated the relationships between focal resources and OHIS. However, the mediating effects of self-rated health were not found in healthy people.