Comparison between Self-esteem and Health Promotion Behavior of Health Department and Non-Health Department College Students - Focused on comparison between Emergency Medical Technology Department Students and Engineering College Students -

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines and compares the differences between self-esteem and health promotion behavior of health department and non-health department college students. Method: The research instruments were as follows : The first one is RSES developed by Rosenberg and translated into Korean by Jeon. The second one is HPLP developed by Walker et al, and including six subareas by Lee and modified to be suitable to Korean culture by Suh. Data were statistically analyzed with SPSS PC/12.0. Results : 1. Comparison of self-esteem had no significant difference(p=.190) and health promotion behaviors had significant differences(p=.000) between the two groups. 2. According to general characteristics and health-related characteristics, the differences of self-esteem in health department showed significant differences in grade(p=.020), sex(p=.000), age(p=.000), parents' economic conditions(p=.048), and smoking(p=.030) while non-health departments revealed significant differences in grade(p=.003), sex(p=.000), age(p=.000) and smoking(p=.001). 3. According to general characteristics and health-related characteristics, the differences of health promotion behaviors in health department showed significant differences in grade(p=.008), sex(p=.021), age(p=.000) and parents' economic conditions(p=.017) while non-health department revealed significant differences in sex(p=.000) and age(p=.000). 4. There were positive correlations between self-esteem, health promotion behaviors and subareas in health department (r=.422) and non-health department (r=.383). Conclusion: There were significant positive correlations between self-esteem and health promotion behaviors in health and non-health department college students. Therefore, health related programs should be developed to enhance self-esteem and health management by college students can influence themselves on self-esteem and health promotion behaviors.