A Comparative Study of Communication Type and Stress Coping Style between Hwabyung Patients Group and Non-Hwabyung Patients Group

Objectives: Interpersonal stress is a major cause and aggravating factor of Hwabyung. The purpose of this study was to compare communication type and stress coping style between the Hwabyung pa-tients group and non-Hwabyung patients group.Methods: The total number of study participants was 101. Based on the Hwabyung symptom scale, the study participants were divided into Hwabyung patients group (30 patients) and non-Hwabyung pa-tients group (43 patients; control group), and the others were excluded from the study . All included patients were administered the Virginia Satir's communication type questionnaire and stress coping scale based on Folkman & Lazarus's theory. The independent t-test was used to determine the stat-istical significance between the features of communication types and stress coping styles in each group. In addition, Spearman correlation analysis was used to identify the relationship between com-munication types and stress coping styles.Results and Conclusions: 1. Communication types differed significantly between the Hwabyung pa-tients group and non-Hwabyung patients group. 2. Hwabyung patients scored significantly higher in each dysfunctional communication type than functional communication type. Scores of placating stance and super-reasonable stance, which were subtypes of dysfunctional communication type, were high in the Hwabyung patients group. The non-Hwabyung patients group scored the highest in Congruent stance, classified as functional communication type. 3. Stress coping style was not sig-nificantly different between the two groups.Key Words: Hwabyung, Satir, Communication type, Stress coping.