J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs.  2015 Jun;24(2):73-81. 10.12934/jkpmhn.2015.24.2.73.

Effects of a Program to Enhance Ego-development on General Mental Health, Self-concept, and Depression in Elementary and Middle School Students from Low Income Families

• Sung KM

• KMID: 2322964
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2015.24.2.73

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a program to enhance ego-development for elementary and middle school students from low income families.
METHODS
The study was a pretest-posttest design with a nonequivalent control group. The participants were 84 students who were admitted to after-school programs in three youth centers. Data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi2-test, and t-test.
RESULTS
Students who were in the intervention group (n=43) showed improvements from baseline to 10 weeks in aspects of general mental health, self-concept, and depression.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study indicate that the ego-development enhancing program positively affects the mental health of students from low income families.

Keyword

Student; Low income; Mental health; Self-concept; Depression

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Depression*
Humans
Mental Health*
Surveys and Questionnaires

Figure

• 

  Figure 1 The application process of a program to enhance ego-development.

Reference

1. Sung KM, Hyun M, Gu JA, Shin HS, Hwang WJ, Jin JH, et al. Human growth and development: Theory & Practice. Seoul: Komoonsa;2014.

2. van Gent T, Goedhart AW, Knoors HET, Westenberg PM, Treffers PDA. Self-concept and ego development in deaf adolescents: a comparative study. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 2012; 17(3):333–351.

3. Lindfors K, Elovainio M, Wickman S, Vuorinen R, Sinkkonen J, Dunkel L, et al. Brief report: the role of ego development in psychosocial adjustment among boys with delayed puberty. J Res Adolesc. 2007; 17(4):601–612.

4. Gfellner BM, Armstrong HD. Ego development, ego strengths, and ethnic identity among first nation adolescents. J Res Adolesc. 2012; 22(2):225–234. DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00769.x.

5. Allen JP, Hauser ST, Bell KL, O'Connor TG. Longitudinal assessment of autonomy and relatedness in adolescent-family interactions as predictors of adolescent ego development and self-esteem. Child Dev. 1994; 65(1):179–194. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00743.x.

6. Bursik K, Martin TA. Ego development and adolescent academic achievement. J Res Adolesc. 2006; 16(1):1–18.

7. Song IS. The developmental and differentiated changes in dimensionality self-concept across ages. Korean J Educ Res. 1989; 27(1):85–103.

8. Choi JW, Kim HJ. Domestic violence affects the mental health of adolescents: mediating effects of self-concept. Korean J Youth Stud. 2011; 18(1):73–103.

9. Sung KM, Lee HJ. Effects of violence victimization on mental health of children and adolescents: analysis of mediating effects of self-concept. J Korean Acad Community Health Nurs. 2012; 24(4):407–418. DOI: 10.12799/jkachn.2013.24.4.407.

10. Cho ES, Seo JM. Factors influencing children's mental health state. J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2010; 19(1):57–66.

11. Yoo IY. Parenting stress of adolescent children. Korean Parent Child Health J. 2005; 8(1):17–22.

12. Abubakar A, Van de Vijver FJR, Suryani AO, Handayani P, Pandia WS. Perceptions of parenting styles and their associations with mental health and life satisfaction among urban Indonesian adolescents. J Child Fam Stud. 2014; Forthcoming. DOI: 10.1007/s10826-014-0070-x.

13. Lee HJ. A longitudinal changes on maternal parenting stress in low-income families. J Korean Soc Child Welf. 2014; 46:115–141.

14. Yune HS, Oh KJ. The effect of social support on parenting stress among families in poverty: focused on children's age and environmental risk factors. Korean J Woman Psychol. 2010; 15(4):673–689.

15. Taylor RD, Budescu M, Gebre A, Hodzic I. Family financial pressure and maternal and adolescent socioemotional adjustment: moderating effects of kin social support in low income African American families. J Child Fam Stud. 2014; 23(2):242–254. DOI: 10.1007/s10826-012-9688-8.

16. Naver Magaginecast [Internet]. Wealth Management;2015. cited 2014 Dec 08. Available from: http://navercast.naver.com/magazine_contents.nhn?rid=2717&contents_id=71271.

17. Chung YJ. Effects of group art therapy on depression and self-esteem of children from low-income families. Korean J Child Stud. 2007; 28(4):97–111.

18. Lee EA, Lee SY. The effects of group art therapy on emotion regulation ability for adolescents in low-income family: based on person-centered art therapy. J Adolesc Welf. 2012; 14(2):25–49.

19. Kim JH, Chung DW. Effects of after-school self-esteem program on the self-esteem and peer relationship of children from low-income families. J Ecol Early Child Educ. 2011; 10(4):71–90.

20. Shin SI. The validity and reliability of the Korean version of the general health questionnaire. Korean J Soc Welf. 2001; 46:210–235.

21. Sung KM. Development of a self-evaluation scale to measure self-concept for children and adolescents. J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2012; 21(4):292–302.

22. Kovacs M. Rating scale to assess depression in school-aged children. Acta Paedopsychiatr. 1981; 46:305–315.

23. Cho SC, Lee YS. A development of Korean children depression scale. J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc. 1990; 29(4):943–956.

24. Waltz CF, Bausell BR. Nursing research: design statistics and computer analysis. Philadelphia, PA: FA Davis Company;1981.

25. Kuzucu Y, Bontempo DE, Hofer SM, Stallings MC, Piccinin AM. Developmental change and time-specific variation in global and specific aspects of self-concept in adolescence and association with depressive symptoms. J Early Adolesc. 2014; 34(5):638–666. DOI: 10.1177/0272431613507498.

26. Park JM. The effects of children's stress-coping behaviors on the relationships between children's perfectionism and depression [master's thesis]. Seoul: Sookmyung Women's University;2006.

27. Robles-Piña RA, Defrance E, Cox DL. Self-concept, early childhood depression and school retention as predictors of adolescent depression in urban hispanic adolescents. Sch Psychol Int. 2008; 29(4):426–441.

28. Kim JS, Kim SC, Yoo SK, Shin AW. Factors influencing stress levels of adolescents: with a focus on the impact of positive self-concept and self-confidence. Korean J Youth Stud. 2011; 18(3):103–126.

29. McCullough G, Huebner ES, Laughlin JE. Life events, self-concept, and adolescents' positive subjective well-being. Psychol Sch. 2000; 37(3):281–290.

30. Lee DW. Juvenile delinquency and multifactorial self concept. Korean Assoc Public Saf Crim Justice Rev. 2005; 19:357–383.