Phenomenological Approach to Stress Experiences in Obese Teenagers

비만 청소년의 스트레스 경험에 관한 현상학적 접근

Today, obesity is not recognized as a disease itself but is known to be the indirect cause of much chronic illness. Obesity has an impact on psychological disorders including severe inferiority, damage of body self-image, low self-esteem, personality disorders. The results in an increase of the mortality rate. Therefore, this study attempts to discover and evaluate stressful experience in obese teenagers. For this study, 21 girl students and 19 boy students in Pusan middle or high school located were selected. The data were collected from March to May at 1999. A tape-recorder was used under the permission of the subjects to prevent the loss of spoken information and communication. This study consisted of 563 reponses from girls and 461 responses from boys which were then classified with descriptive expressions and priority classifications. The results generated 72 common elements in girls and 54 common elements in boys. From these elements 24 syntheses of hypothetical definitions and 8 identifications of the structural definitions in both girls and boys were developed. The structural and hypothetical definitions were as follows: The analysis of the data was made through a phenomenological analytic method suggested by Van kamm, which is as follows: 1. Maladjustment to school life; lack of understanding of the teacher, insufficient exercise ability, and a feeling of burden in attending the school obesity program. 2. Conflict in family relationships; lack of understanding from the family, a feeling of alienation. 3. Conflict in friend relationships; lack of understanding among friends, constant comparisons in appearance and body with friends (in girls) and estrangement from friends (in boys). 4. Conflict in acquaintance of the opposite sex; hoping to meet the opposite sex, lack of understanding of boy friends (in girls), feelings of pain, feelings of anxiety (in girls) feelings of burden (in girls) feelings of envy (in boys). 5. Negative body image: shape of body; feelings of pain; feelings of powerlessness; feelings of discomfort, and reception; emotional disorders (in boys), and change of personality (in boys). 6. Health disorder: Physical and psychological discomfort. 7. Feelings of burden in weight control; negative experiences in weight control, interference with family and friends, the difficulty in diet therapy, feelings of burden in exercise (in girls), to be teased by the public through mass media (in boys).